CarDekho plans to raise Rs 300cr
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Mumbai
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Online auto classifieds
player CarDekho, which bought Naspers-owned Gaadi.com last month, is in
the market to raise $40-50 million (up to Rs 300 crore) in a fresh
financing round, looking for a $250million (over Rs 1,500-crore)
pre-investment valuation. The Sequoia Capital-funded startup has held
initial talks with a set of hedge funds and private equity investors,
sources close to the matter said, indicating that the transaction may
take another few months to close. CarDekho will join the growing
tribe of Indian con
sumer tech startups with a valuation of Rs 1,000 crore or more, which
includes the likes of Bookmyshow, Zomato, Ola and Quikr. This group
doesn’t include the e-commerce biggies Flipkart and Snapdeal, mobile ad
platform InMobi and data analytics major MuSigma, which boast of
billionor multi-billion-dollar valuations.
Just a year ago, Silicon Valley venture firm Sequoia Capital had invested over $15 million for a 20% stake in GirnarSoftware, which owns internet portals CarDekho, BikeDekho and PriceDekho, valuing the Jaipur-based company at over $50 million in its first round of institutional funding. CarDekho and Gaadi together claim to be the largest online auto classifieds player by revenue and traffic in the country.
Amit Jain, co-founder & CEO, CarDekho, said, “Our revenues have gone up threefold year-on-year and our lead generation has doubled after the first ad campaign broke on TV. The Gaadi acquisition has given us a great used-car play, which is exciting a lot of our investors.” Jain did not offer details on the fund-raise, but said the combined entity has 10 million unique visitors.
Investors are realizing that auto is the next billion-dollar opportunity in the consumer internet space here in India.
Since December last year, when Autohome (China) went public, investors have realized there is a huge opportunity in the auto vertical, Jain told TOI.
The idea of the flagship CarDekho was kicked off by brothers Amit and Anurag Jain, both IIT-Delhi alumni, after a visit to the Auto Expo in 2008.
An email sent to Sequoia Capital didn’t elicit a response.
Just a year ago, Silicon Valley venture firm Sequoia Capital had invested over $15 million for a 20% stake in GirnarSoftware, which owns internet portals CarDekho, BikeDekho and PriceDekho, valuing the Jaipur-based company at over $50 million in its first round of institutional funding. CarDekho and Gaadi together claim to be the largest online auto classifieds player by revenue and traffic in the country.
Amit Jain, co-founder & CEO, CarDekho, said, “Our revenues have gone up threefold year-on-year and our lead generation has doubled after the first ad campaign broke on TV. The Gaadi acquisition has given us a great used-car play, which is exciting a lot of our investors.” Jain did not offer details on the fund-raise, but said the combined entity has 10 million unique visitors.
Investors are realizing that auto is the next billion-dollar opportunity in the consumer internet space here in India.
Since December last year, when Autohome (China) went public, investors have realized there is a huge opportunity in the auto vertical, Jain told TOI.
The idea of the flagship CarDekho was kicked off by brothers Amit and Anurag Jain, both IIT-Delhi alumni, after a visit to the Auto Expo in 2008.
An email sent to Sequoia Capital didn’t elicit a response.
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