CARS24 raises $450 million funding; valuation practically doubles to $1.84 billion

CARS24 on Monday mentioned it has raised $450 million (about Rs 3,321.3 crore) in funding from DST Global, Falcon Edge, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and others, serving to the pre-owned automobiles’ e-commerce platform practically double its valuation to $1.84 billion.
The collection F spherical of funding was a mixture of fairness ($340 million) and debt ($110 million), a press release mentioned.
The fairness spherical was led by DST Global, Falcon Edge and SoftBank Vision Fund 2 together with participation from Tencent and present traders, Moore Strategic Ventures and Exor Seeds, it added.
The debt funding got here from diversified monetary establishments.
“With the latest investment, CARS24 will expand its global presence as well as further build its cars, bikes and financing business in India, while continuing to invest in technology that delivers the best customer experience possible,” the assertion mentioned.
CARS24 has clocked greater than 13 million month-to-month visitors and over 4 lakh transactions until date. It has additionally procured a non-banking monetary firm (NBFC) license and launched shopper lending enterprise with CARS24 Financial Services and two-wheeler phase, BIKES24.
It is backed by marquee traders like Sequoia India, SoftBank, Falcon Edge, Exor Seeds, DST Global, Kingsway Capital, Unbound, Moore Strategic Ventures and KCK.
The firm has beforehand raised near $400 million, together with $200 million in collection E spherical introduced in November final 12 months.
Vikram Chopra, co-founder and CEO of CARS24 mentioned the six-year outdated firm has closed “its largest round of funding to date”.
“Traditionally, car selling or buying have been a tiresome process, and only 2 of 100 people own cars in India. However, over the last six years, we have been working continuously towards fulfilling the dreams of many Indians to own a car by transforming the customer’s journey- ‘the CARS24 way’ that is hassle-free, safe and transparent,” he mentioned.
With this funding, CARS24 will proceed to penetrate into present automotive, bikes and financing enterprise in India whereas venturing into new abroad geographies this 12 months, he added.
The funding comes simply months after CARS24’s enlargement into the UAE and Australian markets. The firm has already offered over 1,000 vehicles within the UAE because the launch of its operations in April this 12 months.
CARS24 additionally formally introduced its launch with a brand new marketing campaign final week in Australia.
Rahul Mehta, Managing Partner at DST Global, mentioned CARS24 is on the forefront of remodeling the best way shoppers purchase and promote vehicles by offering a novel end-to-end digital procuring and transaction expertise.
“They have emerged as the undisputed leader in the used car space in India and early traction in international markets is exceeding expectations. We love backing founders who are bold and ambitious thinkers and couldn’t be more excited to enter the second innings of our long-lasting partnership with CARS24,” Mehta added.
Munish Varma, Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, mentioned CARS24 is constructing a data-enabled tech platform that’s organising the fragmented used automotive market in India.