CarDekho is an Indian search and e-commerce platform for new and used cars, headquartered in Jaipur. It buys cars from customers and then sells them and offers a catalogue of more than 3,000 certified pre-owned cars for online purchase. The platform also provides financing (installment payments) and insurance; its financial services business is profitable and insurance has reached breakeven. CarDekho works with almost all automobile makers in India and contributes 30% of their annual sales, and it partners with over 3,500 new auto dealers and more than 4,000 used car dealers and traders. The company has expanded to over 100 markets and said it exceeded a $100 million revenue run-rate in the last month. It plans to deploy the fresh capital to expand its used car and financial services businesses and expand its catalog to over 10,000 cars in the near future. CarDekho, founded in 2008 by Amit Jain, is an autotech group headquartered in Jaipur that has digitized large parts of the Indian automotive ecosystem. The group operates a portfolio of sites including CarDekho.com, Gaadi.com, ZigWheels.com, BikeDekho.com, PowerDrift.com and specialized portals TyreDekho.com and TrucksDekho.com. It recently launched an online insurance portal, InsuranceDekho.com, offering motor and health insurance, and introduced CarDekho Gaadi stores as a one-stop destination for selling pre-owned cars. The company’s offerings therefore span vehicle listings, insurance distribution and specialist verticals for tyres and commercial vehicles. CarDekho runs operations in India, Indonesia and the Philippines. The article does not disclose revenue or user metrics. CarDekho operates online portals and apps that list new and second-hand cars and motorbikes and produces automotive content such as a YouTube channel and blog. The company claims 39 million monthly unique visitors and six million app downloads, and it works with about 5,000 dealerships and direct retail partnerships with eight vehicle makers. On the services side it offers car financing via more than 10 financial partners and has offered insurance since 2017. Revenue grew from 114 crore (≈$16.3M) in FY 2016–17 to 160 crore (≈$22.8M) in FY 2017–18. CarDekho has expanded into Southeast Asia with portals in Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia. The company says it will double down on insurance and financial-services offerings and build out more transaction services tied to auto sales. Girnar Software runs several Indian auto portals—CarDekho.com, Gaadi.com, Zigwheels.com—and a motorbike marketplace, BikeDekho.com. It acquired Gaadi.com in 2014 and Zigwheels.com in 2015 and expanded internationally last March with CarBay.com, which operates in 25 countries across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, North America, and South America. In India its sites target car sellers and buyers and offer value-added services such as insurance, car accessories, tires, and roadside assistance. The company differentiates via product features including 360-degree interior/exterior views, audio recordings of horns, engines and ignition, and virtual reality showrooms to give consumers an immersive pre-dealer experience. Girnar says it will invest some of its new funding into research and development and plans to continue overseas growth through acquisitions. Before this round the company had raised at least $80 million, and it has received new, undisclosed funding from Google Capital with participation from returning investor Hillhouse Capital. Girnar Software operates CarDekho.com, a Jaipur-based auto portal that provides information on new and used cars, reviews, buy/sell listings and related services to connect consumers with dealers. The site follows a multiple-revenue model—dealer fees for leads and inventory listings, premium consumer listings, and advertising—and passes leads to manufacturers, charging them only when a car is purchased. It also connects users to auto loans and runs related sites BikeDekho.com and PriceDekho.com; the firm acquired competing site Gaadi.com from Naspers. The company reports about 17 million visits and 10 million unique visitors per month and works with over 5,000 dealer partners. Girnar aims to expand auto-financing via partnerships, targeting to facilitate a billion dollars of auto loans and expecting digital to hold a 25% share of auto loan financing within four years. Recently it has raised a $50 million Series B and received additional undisclosed investments, positioning it to deepen its financing partnerships and consumer loan pre-approval offerings.

Total raised

$495M

Funding rounds

8

Latest round

Series E

Latest activity

Oct 2021