Funding story

Used car listings platform CarTrade continues to notch up one significant success after another. Following on the heels of its November deal to acquire rival CarWale comes its raising of $145 million, equivalent to Rs.950 crore from a large group of investors. Among these were Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, US-based March Capital, and existing investor Warburg Pincus.
The completion of the CarWale’s acquisition will occur using the raised funding. It will also be used  for the general expansion of the brand. The listings featured on CarWale are thus all set to be further expanded upon. The startup’s overall valuation was estimated to be approximately $30 million in October 2014. This is set to expand even further thanks to the latest round of funding.

About CarTrade

CarTrade was set up by Vinay Sanghi and Rajan Mehra in 2010. It operates both as a B2B and a B2C platform. It also maintains a voluminous record of used automobile listings. Its services can be availed of by using its excellent online platform. This platform is renowned for its simplicity and ease of use. Merely by selecting the city of choice, the user can view the extensive listings which the site contains. Each listing is accompanied by a price tag, details of specifications, and pictures of the car model in question. Related cars in the same price change are also highlighted. Overall, CarTrade’s mantra is the ensuring of affordable used cars. At the same time, it focuses on quality.

The bottom line

CarWale’s rise began following its raising of funding from Chip Perry. Chip is the  former CEO of US-based automobile classifieds Auto Trader. The startup has only gone from strength to strength since. It raised a huge amount of funding from Warburg Pincus, Canaan Partners and Tiger Global.  The acquisition of rival CarWale almost a done thing. Thus, the startup’s prospects look very bright indeed. The two startups together get over 32 million visits per month. Together, they have over 2.23 lakh cars listed.

For more info, visit the startup’s excellent online platform.