CarDekho Likely to Raise $150 million, may get Unicorn Status

CIOReviewIndia Team | Thursday, 10 June 2021, 04:13 IST

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CarDekho Likely to Raise $150 million, may get Unicorn StatusGirnar Software-owned auto portal CarDekho is in talks with investors to raise a minimum of $150 million (about Rs 1,000 crore), in its largest fundraising exercise yet that could take it to the unicorn club.

CarDekho, which expects to close the ongoing funding round in the next couple of months, will use the resources to expand its recently launched e-commerce platform for retailing used cars.

During the last funding it had raised $70 million at a valuation of $725 million in a Series D funding round led by Hong Kong-based Ping An Global Voyager in November 2019. The new round is expected to value Cardekho at more than a billion dollars, the benchmark for a startup to be called unicorn.

Amit Jain Co-founder says the new platform has made it easier to sell and purchase used cars. A potential buyer can test drive the car he chooses for a week and then decide whether or not to buy it. Cardekho is also giving a six month warranty on engine and transmission, and offering road-side assistance and financing solutions among other things.

Jain, who is also CarDekho’s CEO expressed “We have received a very good response (on our online platform). The pandemic has only helped speed up the adoption of this model,”.

Demand for used cars has increased since the beginning of the pandemic, as people looked for personal mobility options to reduce the risk of infection, but at a cheaper cost amid the economic uncertainties. Cardekho, which currently sells vehicles online in National Capital Region, Mumbai and Bengaluru, plans to expand operations to the top 20 cities by March 2022.