CarTrade raises $55M to fuel growth and acquisitions

CarTrade, the online automobile classifieds platform, has raised $55 million from Singapore-based investment firm Temasek. The funding round also witnessed the participation of a large US family office. The capital will be utilised to support CarTrade’s growth plans through acquisitions, expansion into new areas such as auto finance, and to further sharpen its services to consumers, dealers, and OEMs.

Last year, CarTrade had raised Rs 950 crore led by Temasek and March Capital, a global venture investment firm, with the participation of international private equity firm Warburg Pincus. Existing investors in CarTrade include Warburg Pincus, Temasek, JP Morgan, and March Capital.

In October 2014, CarTrade had raised $30 million from Warburg Pincus, Tiger Global, and Canaan Partners. Other existing investors also include JP Morgan and Epiphany ventures. In November 2015, CarTrade and Carwale had announced a merger, with the latter's investor Axel Springer exiting from the company.

Post the January 2016 merger, CarTrade claimed to become India’s largest auto classifieds platform. The combined entity now claims to witness 15 million unique customers per month and has partnered with approximately 8,000 new and used car dealer partners. The platforms currently lists more than 2,00,000 used cars for sale and auctions over 2,00,000 vehicles to the wholesale market every year.

Vinay Sanghi, Founder and CEO, CarTrade, said,

The funds raised will be used to drive growth through continued focus on strengthening our dealer and customer services and evaluating potential acquisitions. CarTrade is aggressively looking at the market for used car finance withless then eight percent of used cars sold being financed through an organised financier. To address this opportunity, CarTrade Finance was recently launched with the aim of financing the inventory for car dealers and to consumers who wish to buy used cars.”

CarTrade.com directly competes with players like Gaadi.com, CarDekho, ZigWheels, Oncars.in, and MotorTrends.in. Some interesting startups in the secondhand or used vehicle space are SAIF Partners-backed Zoomo (which recently laid off 130 employees), Eight Roads-backed CredR, and Lightbox-backed Droom. Classifieds sites like OLX and Quikr are also indirect competitors as they have auto sections.

Website: CarTrade