India's Droom raises $20m Series C
Indian used-car trading marketplace Droom has raised a $20 million Series C round from investors including Lightbox India Advisors and Beenos Asia.
The round was led by Hong Kong-based Integrated Asset Management Asia and existing investor Digital Garage, the Japanese incubator that led Droom’s INR2 billion ($30 million) Series B round in 2016 along with Beenext. Lightbox and Beenos, which had previously invested INR1 billion Series A funding in 2015, also participated in that round.
Droom will use the new capital to improve its tech platform and expand its market presence, along with seeking acquisitions aimed at diversifying its service offering. The company originated as an online marketplace for buying and selling cars and two-wheelers, but has recently added new services including roadside assistance and auto loans. It may also expand into Southeast Asia later this year.
Speaking to The Economic Times, Droom founder and CEO Sandeep Aggarwal said the company expects to reach INR1.75 billion in revenue by next March and to start making a profit by mid-2018. It is considering listing on NASDAQ the following year.
Lightbox invested from its $54 million top-up fund, which closed in January. The vehicle is intended for a handful of current investees embarking on growth funding rounds; at the time the firm named Droom as one of the fund’s targets, along with online food-ordering platform Faasos, online jewelry retailer Melorra, furniture rental platform Furlenco, and test preparation business Embibe.
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