CarDekho turns unicorn with $250mn pre-IPO funding led by LeapFrog
Aiming to capture a larger share in India's used car retail space, Jaipur-based CarDekho has raised $250 million, including $200 million in equity and $50 million as debt, in its latest pre-IPO funding round. With this, the start-up has became the 33rd unicorn in India and is valued at $1.2 billion. LeapFrog Investments, an Australia-based impact investor, has led the funding round.
Besides LeapFrog, US-based Canyon Partners, Harbor Spring Capital, Mirae Asset, and Franklin Templeton are the new investors. Existing investors Sequoia Capital India and Sunley House also participated in the round. In 2019, Girnar Software-owned CarDekho had raised $70 million in Series D funding, led by Hong Kong-based Ping An Global Voyager. The company was founded by Amit Jain and Anurag Jain in 2008.
The fund will be utilized to grow CarDekho's used car platform, financial services, and insurance businesses, besides expanding into new markets. The company operates in the National Capital Region, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, and aims to enter 20 more cities by March 2022.
Backed by big investors, CarDekho has so far raised $255 million and plans to sell at least 4,000-5,000 cars every month by the end of this fiscal year, as per The Economic Times. At present, it has over 3,000 certified used cars but the fleet will soon be raised to 10,000. The company is claimed to have exceeded $100mn revenue in September 2021.
CarDekho will notably face stiff competition from rivals like CARS24 and challengers like Ola. Earlier this month, Ola had announced its foray into the used car retail market, which is expected to double by 2026. Currently, 4.4 million used cars are sold each year. Meanwhile, Gurugram-based CARS24 raised $450 million last month. Other competitors like Droom Technology and Spinny are also making their mark.
