Vinu LalIndia’s largest car search platform CarDekho has become a unicorn – $1bn market capitalisation – after it raised $250m in a pre-stockmarket-launch sale round.
The funding round, which valued CarDekho at $1.2bn, included a $200m series E equity and $50m debt.
The funding was led by LeapFrog Investments, a global impact investor focused on financial services and healthcare access, according to a company press release seen by Capital.com.
Investors
New investors including US-based Canyon Partners, Mirae Asset and Harbor Spring Capital, while existing investors Sequoia Capital India and Sunley House also participated in the round.
Sequoia Capital India had already invested in CarDekho in 2013 and 2018. With the latest fundraising, CarDekho becomes the first unicorn from the north Indian state of Rajasthan.
“The new fundraise will help us expand our used car transactions and financial services businesses,” said CarDekho co-founder and chief executive Amit Jain.
“The trust and conviction of our investors will help us to accelerate our growth plans whilst we provide our customers with an experience that will continue to re-define car buying and selling.”
Earlier this year Jain told CNBC that he expects the initial public offering (IPO) to take place in 2023.
Largest fundraise
This is the company’s largest fundraise. The proceeds will also be used to build product and technology functions, increase brand awareness and expand into new markets.
CarDekho buys cars from customers in more than 100 markets and has a catalogue of 3,000 certified pre-owned cars for online purchase.
The company plans to expand with retail hubs across India. The CarDekho team also has a presence in Indonesia and the Philippines, and aims to use the funds to expand internationally.
Access to mobility
“CarDekho is an outstanding platform for large-scale social impact, already making vehicles more accessible, affordable and trustworthy for over three million emerging consumers,” said Stewart Langdon, partner and co-head of South Asian Investments at LeapFrog Investments.
“Improving access to mobility in this way will help to drive development in other key areas, such as healthcare and education.”
Numis and Credit Suisse were the financial advisors to CarDekho.
