India's Cars24 closes Series F, sees valuation double

DST Global, Falcon Edge Capital, and SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led the equity round with support from Tencent Holdings, Moore Strategic Ventures, and Exor Seeds. It comes less than a year after a $200 million Series E led by DST that valued the company at around $1 billion.

“We have studied used car platforms globally and are struck by the similarities we see between Cars24 and analogous businesses that have scaled successfully Cars24 has cemented its first-mover advantage by building wide-ranging supply side moats, which in turn drive demand liquidity on the platform,” said Navroz Udwadia, co-founder of Falcon Edge.

“In positioning itself as a buying and selling solution for consumers, Cars24 drives immense top-of-mind recall. It is rare to find a business as focused on the consumer experience and as driven to ensure it is outstanding via the use of data science and technology.

Cars24 allows users to buy and resell used cars of any make and in any condition with an emphasis on ensuring speed and value through an online vehicle appraisal calculator and artificial intelligence pricing algorithms. According to a statement, it has a more than 90% market share in the online used car segment.

The platform is said to be used more than 13 million times a month, surpassing pre-pandemic traffic levels. It has facilitated more than 400,000 transaction since its inception in 2015, with recent traction attributable to an expansion into the two-wheeler category.

The fresh capital will be used to continue expansion efforts in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The company has sold more than 1,000 cars in the United Arab Emirates since the rollout of operations in the country. Last week, it officially launched an Australia campaign. DST said the push into international markets was exceeding expectations.

Car24 has raised about $990 million in the past three years, with other recent investors including Sequoia Capital India, Partners Group, UK-based Unbound, and Canada’s KCK Global.

Among the company's early backers are Kingsway Capital Management, 500 Startups, Asia Venture Group, GE32 Capital, Regent Street Partners, Vendebita Trading, VH Capital, and Apoletto, a vehicle associated with DST founder Yuri Milner.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Consumer
• Expansion
• Technology
• India
• DST Advisors
• Falcon Edge Capital
• Softbank
• automobiles
• TMT
• e-commerce