CarDekho closes $70 million round from leading investors in China and Europe

Udaipur : CarDekho, India’s leading full-stack auto-tech company, has raised $70 million in Series D funding, led by Ping An’s Global Voyager Fund as they chose CarDekho to be their first investment in India. Sunley House Capital Management, a subsidiary of global private equity firm Advent International joined the round along with existing investors Sequoia India and Hillhouse. Based in China, Ping An is one of the world’s largest financial services companies and is also the majority shareholder of China’s largest auto portal, Autohome. Sequoia India is one of the early investors in CarDekho having led the Series A round in 2013. With this new round of capital, CarDekho has raised more than $250 million.  

These funds will be used to further strengthen CarDekho’s transaction businesses and expand its international footprint. The company has recently started its operations in the second country in Southeast Asia by acquiring the Philippines operations of Carmudi, a leading New Auto player. CarDekho launched its Indonesia operations in 2016 under the brand name OTO.com, which has since become the number one New Auto portal in the country. 

CarDekho has successfully digitized the auto ecosystem in India and is aggressively pursuing its vision to own the personal mobility space by helping customers across their entire car purchase, ownership and sale journey. All car and motorcycle manufacturers engage with CarDekho accounting for 15-30% of some of its partner manufacturers’ annual sales. CarDekho also works actively with over 4,000 new auto dealerships and 3,000 used car dealers across India influencing more than 42% of the retail sales happening through their counters. In addition, it works in collaboration with more than 10 financial institutions and 18 insurance companies across the country to facilitate used car financing and insurance to provide a seamless experience for both buyers and sellers. The company recently announced its H1 results for FY 19-20. The overall revenue of the company achieved a YOY growth of 92% over the first half of the last fiscal year and stood at $28 million. Despite the slowdown in new auto sales across the country, the company’s New Auto business segment posted a significant growth of 30%. Its Insurance and Warranty business grew by 525%, Used Cars business by 120% and Financial Services business by 135% respectively. 

“As a leading full-stack autotech company in India, we at CarDekho are committed to helping consumers throughout their car buying & selling journey. Our unique automobile ecosystem helps us provide compelling value propositions to the consumers and engage with them through our various transaction models at one platform. With the latest fundraise, we will continue to strengthen our domestic and international businesses and will aggressively work towards becoming the largest personal mobility ecosystem in the country,” said Amit Jain, CEO and Co-Founder, CarDekho.

“Auto services are a core component of Ping An’s ‘finance + ecosystem’ strategy, reflected in our majority shareholding in Autohome in China. We have been extremely impressed with the business CarDekho has built in India, particularly its success in developing different types of financial services offerings to address car buyers’ needs,” said Donald Lacey, Managing Director and COO of the Ping An Global Voyager Fund. “The Global Voyager Fund’s stake in CarDekho represents Ping An’s first venture investment in India, and we are delighted to partner with an organization of CarDekho’s caliber.” 

“CarDekho is at the center of the car buying ecosystem in India, connecting auto brands, dealers and consumers across the country through its portals,” said Mohammed Anjarwala, a Managing Director at Sunley House Capital Management. “With a significant share of the auto industry’s digital ad spending, we believe the company is poised for strong growth as advertising in India increasingly moves to digital channels. We look forward to supporting CarDekho by providing access to our global network and experience in building high-growth businesses.”   “CarDekho continues to execute very well on its ecosystem strategy across the used and new auto space. Sequoia India is glad to welcome Ping An and Sunley House to this partnership, and we are excited to deepen our support and commitment to the CarDekho team in their journey to make car buying and selling a more convenient and efficient experience for Indian consumers,” said Shailesh Lakhani, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India Advisors. The RainMaker Group acted as the sole financial advisor to the Company.