CARS24 announced the closing of a $450 million round of funding including a $340 millon Series F Equity round alongside $110 million debt from diversified financial institutions.
The Series F Equity round was led by DST Global, Falcon Edge and SoftBank Vision Fund with participation from Tencent and existing investors Moore Strategic Ventures and Exor Seeds.
Why is CARS24 attracting investment?
CARS24 will expand globally and further build its cars, bikes and financing business in India, while continuing to invest in technology that delivers the best customer experience possible.
Vikram Chopra, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer of CARS24 was optimistic.
“Just last month, we celebrated our six successful years of operations and we are incredibly excited to share that CARS24 has officially closed its largest round of funding to date.”
“Traditionally, car selling or buying has been a tiresome process.”
“We have been working continuously towards fulfilling the dreams of many to own a car by transforming the customer’s journey the CARS24 way that is hassle-free, safe and transparent.”
“With this investment, we will continue to penetrate into existing car, bikes and financing business in India while venturing into new overseas geographies this year.”
This funding and vote of confidence from top global investors comes just months after CARS24’s expansion into the United Arab Emirates and Australian markets.
The company has sold over 1000 cars in the UAE since the launch of its operations in April this year. CARS24 also officially announced its launch with a new campaign last week in Australia.
CARS24 Australia Chief Executive Officer Olga Rudenko expressed enthusiasm.
“CARS24 has a global reputation for disrupting the used car market, and we are delighted to be spearheading the trend’s expansion here in the competitive Australian market.”
“This latest round of funding reinforces the strength of the CARS24 business model in delivering a convenient and trustworthy approach to facilitate buying a used car.”
“Our Australian launch has been incredibly well received, and we are confident of continued growth in this market by offering Australian used car buyers greater convenience and value.”
CARS24 embracing technology to disrupt the industry
CARS24 exists to transform how consumers buying and selling cars by leveraging technology at every leg of the consumer journey to solve pain points and deliver a seamless experience.
Rahul Mehta, Managing Partner at DST Global is full of praise for CARS24.
“CARS24 is at the forefront of transforming the way consumers buy and sell cars by providing a unique end-to-end digital shopping and transaction experience.”
“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.”
“We have studied used car platforms globally and are struck by the similarities we see between CARS24 and analogous businesses that have scaled successfully.”
“CARS24 has cemented its first-mover advantage by building wide-ranging supply side moats, which in turn drive demand liquidity on the platform. In positioning itself as a buying and selling solution for consumers, CARS24 drives immense top-of-mind recall.”
“It is rare to find a business as focused on the consumer experience and as driven to ensure it is outstanding via the use of data science and technology.”
“Finally, we are deeply impressed by the founders’ leadership, and are thrilled to back them as they transform the used car industry in India and scale internationally across MENA and South East Asia”, said Navroz D. Udwadia, Co-founder of Falcon Edge Capital.
Munish Varma, Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers enthused too.
“CARS24 is building a platform that is organizing the fragmented used car market in India. We have been closely tracking its approach and efforts that have disrupted the used car retailing.”
Sumer Juneja, Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers applauded the initiative.
“We believe CARS24 is enhancing the customer experience in the used car industry with focus on technology. We support this growth given our expertise in e-commerce.”
CARS24 is the market leader in India’s online used car segment with over 90% market share, and has clocked more than 13 million monthly traffic and over four lakh transactions to date.
CARS24 launched in Australia and is the first business in the market to offer a 100% online used car buying experience that’s set to transform the way Australians buy used cars.
