The investment will be utilized to fuel the brand’s global expansion in the Middle East, Australia and Southeast Asia, and to further strengthen its foothold in the Indian market.
CARS24, India’s leading e-commerce platform for pre-owned vehicles, today announced the closing of a $400M round of funding including a $300M Series G equity round alongside $100M debt from diversified financial institutions. This round is CARS24’s third in just over a year and values the used cars e-commerce player at $3.3B, about double the valuation from its previous round in September 2021.
The Series G equity round was led by return investor Alpha Wave Global (formerly known as Falcon Edge Capital) along with participation from other existing investors. CARS24 also raised a cumulative debt-funding of $100M across India, Australia, and the UAE.
The investment will be utilized to fuel the brand’s global expansion in the Middle East, Australia and Southeast Asia, and to further strengthen its foothold in the Indian market. In addition, CARS24 will continue to enhance its superior technology and build a gold standard for quality used cars globally. In this pursuit, CARS24 recently announced the launch of seven Mega Refurbishment Labs (MRLs) in India – an industry first, and one MRL in the UAE which is amongst Dubai’s largest ever commercial leasing deals.
Even amid rapid growth, CARS24’s global opportunity remains massive. The accelerated adoption of CARS24 across Australia, the UAE and Thailand has illustrated the significance of a used car e-commerce platform experience and is a powerful indication of its future impact on the $100B industry.
Speaking on the development, Vikram Chopra, Co-founder & CEO, CARS24 said, “Today’s news is just another step in CARS24’s journey; we’re in it for the long haul, and we look forward to continuing our work of creating a frictionless consumer experience for used car customers. CARS24 has aggressive plans for 2022 and beyond, and we can’t wait to put this investment to work. Today, we are witnessing greater acceptance amongst customers across the globe for our platform when purchasing their next car. As we continue to build the best infrastructure for the future with an end-to-end digital customer experience, we are confident that this will delight our customers with our high-touch industry experience.”
Founded in 2015, CARS24 exists to transform the way consumers buy, sell and finance used cars by leveraging technology at every leg of the consumer journey to solve genuine pain points and deliver a seamless buying experience.
Navroz D. Udwadia, Co-founder and Partner of Alpha Wave | Falcon Edge Capital said, “We are excited to back CARS24 yet again as they continue to cement their leadership positions across India, UAE, Australia and other international markets. CARS24’s robust competitive moats across in-house reconditioning, access to the widest assortment/supply and deep data science drive a delightful customer experience, and reflects in its best-in-class NPS. We believe this investment will help CARS24 fortify its moats even further and scale 10x from here over the next few years. We remain impressed by the team’s vision and execution, and are delighted to deepen our partnership with CARS24.”
The rise of online retail around the world remains strong and continues to see increased support from consumers forecasting record-breaking growth for online shopping of used cars. By enabling seamless experience and solving genuine used car customers’ pain points, CARS24 is transforming the way consumers buy cars. As a result, CARS24 has reported a growth of 50% in the last quarter, clocking over 90% market share in the online used car segment while retaining the market leadership.
Source: Business World
