China second-hand car trading platform Renrenche raises $85m
Tencent Holdings has led a $85 million Series C round of funding for Renrenche.com, a Chinese peer-to-peer second-hand car trading platform.
Existing investors Ceyuan Ventures, Redpoint Ventures and Shunwei Capital Partners also participated. The start-up plans to strengthen its market-leading position in key Chinese cities and also expand into new areas, with a sales target of 10,000 used cars within 12 months.
Beijing-based Renrenche was founded in April of last year. It replaces the used car dealers with an online platform through which buyers and sellers can negotiate transactions directly. The company also provides quality assurance, maintenance and insurance services.
Renrenche claims that both car owners and buyers can save about 20% in commission fees by using its platform rather than traditional channels. About 3,000 cars were sold on the platform last month, which translated to approximately RMB300 million ($48 million) in transaction volume.
The company aims to become an online second-hand automobile 4S (sales, spare parts, services and surveys) store. "We want to provide a more efficient and price wise auto after-sales services system through integrating industry resources," Jian Li, CEO of Renrenche, said in a statement.
China's used car market has gained traction with PE and strategic investors. Earlier this year, KKR teamed up with search giant Baidu and US-based hedge fund sponsor Coatue to invest $170 million in Uxin, a Chinese online used car auction company best known for B2B platform Youxinpai.
Meanwhile, Baird Capital led a Series A round for Carsing, a Shanghai-based used car auction platform, followed by FLAG Squadron Capital and Delta Capital. Social networking platform Renren also led $110 million Series D round for second-hand car trading platform Cheyipai.
Other groups to receive funding last year include Mychebao, Youxinpai, Souche Holdings and Youche.com.
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