CARS24 raises $450 mn from DST, others; valuation doubles to $1.84 bn

NEW DELHI: CARS24 on Monday said it has raised USD 450 million (about Rs 3,321.3 crore) in funding from DST Global, Falcon Edge, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and others, helping the preowned vehicles' e-commerce platform nearly double its valuation to USD 1.84 billion.

The series F round of funding was a mix of equity (USD 340 million) and debt (USD 110 million), a statement said.

The equity round was led by DST Global, Falcon Edge and SoftBank Vision Fund 2 along with participation from Tencent and existing investors, Moore Strategic Ventures and Exor Seeds, it added.

The debt funding came from diversified financial institutions.

"With the latest investment, CARS24 will expand its global presence as well as further build its cars, bikes and financing business in India, while continuing to invest in technology that delivers the best customer experience possible," the statement said.

CARS24 has clocked more than 13 million monthly traffic and over 4 lakh transactions till date. It has also procured a non-banking financial company (NBFC) license and launched consumer lending business with CARS24 Financial Services

and two-wheeler segment, BIKES24.

It is backed by marquee investors like Sequoia India, SoftBank, Falcon Edge, Exor Seeds, DST Global, Kingsway Capital, Unbound, Moore Strategic Ventures and KCK. The company has previously raised close to USD 400 million, including USD 200 million in series E round announced in November last year.

Vikram Chopra, cofounder and CEO of CARS24 said the six-year old company has closed "its largest round of funding to date".

"Oover the last six years, we have been working continuously towards fulfilling the dreams of many Indians to own a car by transforming the customer's journey- 'the CARS24 way' that is hasslefree, safe and transparent," he said.