CARS24 on Tuesday said it has raised a fresh $200 million in funding led by DST Global at a valuation of over $1 billion. Existing investors Exor Seeds, Moore Strategic Ventures and Unbound also backed the investment, which is part of the company’s series E financial round.
The company had last raised $100 million from a clutch of investors in October 2019 at an estimated valuation of $500 million. In all, investors have infused about $400 million into the Gurugram-based used car buying company. The fresh capital will be used to grow new business verticals and to invest in technology and product innovation.
The pandemic has prompted more consumers to opt for personal vehicles. A study released by OLX in late July had shown that supply of pre-owned cars recovered to 90% led by the hatchback-sedan category. About 30% respondents from the metros and as many as 70% of those from non-metros indicated that they preferred to buy a pre-owned car.
In an interview with local media earlier this year, Vikram Chopra, co-founder & CEO of CARS24, had said citing industry estimates that used cars would account for about 75% of total car transactions in India by 2025, more than doubling from the current 4.2 million to nine million.
CARS24 recently also forayed into the used two-wheelers category and claims to have already transacted over 3,000 two-wheelers in less than six months. In a statement, the company said monthly transactions have exceeded the pre-Covid levels and there has been a four-time increase in website traffic. Annual transactions surpassed 2,00,000 units, the company said.
The company’s losses reportedly increased to over `300 crore in FY19 from about `79 crore in FY18. Revenues, however, grew by more than 100% to `1,654 crore. Founded in 2015, CARS24 operates in over 130 cities across the country.
In September, ed-tech firm Unacademy entered the unicorn club after SoftBank led a $150 million funding in the company, valuing it at $1.45 billion.
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