Cars24, one of the leading e-commerce platforms for pre-owned vehicles, has announced the closing of AED1.2 billion ($326 million) round in Series F equity funding, nearly doubling its valuation to AED6.75 billion.
The company has already sold over 1,000 cars in the UAE since the launch of its operations in April this year.
The Series F equity round was led by DST Global, Falcon Edge and SoftBank Vision Fund 2 along with participation from Tencent and existing investors Moore Strategic Ventures and Exor Seeds. 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.
Cars24 is a market leader in the online used car segment with over 90% market share in India and has clocked more than 13 million monthly traffic and over 400,000 transactions till date.
Cars24 also officially announced its launch with a new campaign last week in Australia. This funding and vote of confidence from top global investors comes just months after Cars24’s expansion into the UAE and Australian markets.
Vikram Chopra, Co-founder & CEO, Cars24 said: “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. We have been working relentlessly over the last six years to fulfil thousands of people's dreams of owning 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 while venturing into new overseas geographies this year. With an extensive line-up of vehicles, we entered the UAE earlier this year with a goal of bringing a car within reach of every car enthusiast.”
Founded in 2015, Cars24 exists to transform the way consumers buy and sell cars by leveraging technology at every leg of the consumer journey to solve genuine pain points and deliver a seamless experience.
Rahul Mehta, Managing Partner at DST Global said: “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.”
Navroz D Udwadia, Co-founder of Falcon Edge Capital, said: “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 SE Asia.”
Cars24 has made a significant mindset shift in the UAE by taking the entire car buying experience online. Every car bought from Cars24 comes with a 7 days return policy and 2 years warranty. – TradeArabia News Service
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