BeepKart raises $9M in Series A led by Vertex Ventures
The funds will be used towards building the digital user journey for an enhanced customer experience, brand and operational excellence, and to accelerate the geographical scaling of the business.
, a full-stack online platform of used two-wheelers, announced that it has raised $9 million in a Series A round led by Vertex Ventures South East Asia and India.
The round also witnessed participation from existing investors Stellaris Venture Partners and Chiratae Ventures who had led the $3 million seed round of the company in September, 2021.
Hemir Doshi, Co-founder and CEO, BeepKart told YourStory, “A combination of an internal and external product-led strategy, operational excellence across the stack of activities and the right value system can help transform the used two-wheeler market which is far more unorganised than the used-car market."
"We have been focused on the Bengaluru market and have reached a stage where we are profitable. We are at a good point in time to be able to replicate this playbook in other geographies," he shares.
Founded in 2020 by Hemir and Abhishek Saraf, the Bengaluru-based mobility startup digitally sells as-good-as-new, value-for-money two-wheelers. It is taking a digital-first approach to solving this. It offers a transparent and increasingly product-led journey to sellers and buyers.
Beepkart said its full-stack model helps buyers to rely on transparent images and bike inspection reports, make an online reservation, get an at-home test ride, purchase the bike with full payment or on loan, and have a hassle-free ownership experience with a one-year warranty and three free-services.
Piyush Kharbanda, General Partner, Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, said in the statement, “The used two-wheeler market, which by all accounts should be a thriving, well-orchestrated market, is plagued by issues that make it a classic market for lemons. We are excited to back Hemir and Abhishek in their endeavor to build a brand that solves all issues that impact trust among buyers and sellers: price transparency, service delivery, product warranty, and many others.”
Ritesh Banglani of Stellaris Venture Partners added, “Since our initial investment in BeepKart, the company has demonstrated strong momentum in both business volume and economics. Their offerings of online booking and home test drives are seeing strong customer traction. We continue to be huge believers in BeepKart's trust-focused offering and are delighted to back the company in their Series A round.”
TC Meenakshi Sundaram, Vice Chairman, Chiratae Ventures further added, “Within less than a year of operations, BeepKart has emerged as a leader in its operating market of Bangalore. The team has been working extensively on developing their playbook that will drive the scaling of operations to multiple new cities in the future. What excites us is the focus on building a trust-worthy platform for used 2-wheeler buyers which gets reflected in BeepKart’s amazing customer ‘Net Promoter Scores’. We are glad to have backed the company again in their latest Series A round.”
This Bengaluru startup aims to bring affordable personal mobility to Indians
Usage of funds
The company said it will use the capital to further deepen the digital journey for its buyers and sellers, as well as develop more internal products. It plans to build the BeepKart brand to address the white space in the markets, adds Hemir.
The fresh round will also be used to accelerate geographical scaling. Hemir shares that the focus of the expansion would be in southern and western regions of the country, with Chennai being the next immediate city.
"Both for a seed round as well as our current round, we have been fortunate to receive interest from long-term investors who could very well appreciate our business opportunity and strategy and it was on an inbound basis," Hemir adds.
The company has raised a total of $12 million through equity, which includes the current round and seed round of $3 million led by Stellaris Venture Partners and Chiratae Ventures. It also raised $1 million or Rs 7.5 crore from Asia-focused venture debt firm InnoVen Capital as debt funding.
(The story was update to correct a typo and add a quote by Chiratae Ventures)
Edited by Kanishk Singh