Sequoia China joins $35m round for Chinese automotive aftermarket startup

CassTime, a Chinese industrial internet startup focusing on the automotive aftermarket segment, announced that it has secured US$35 million in a series C3 round of funding led by existing investor Source Code Capital.

Sequoia Capital China, Shunwei Capital, and Greater Bay Area Homeland Investments also participated in the round.

Photo credit: CassTime

Founded in 2015, Shenzhen-headquartered CassTime operates a procurement platform selling spare parts and a software-as-a-service management system for workshops. It also provides supply chain finance and logistics services.

With over 1,400 employees, the company has expanded to Guangzhou, Beijing, Wuhan, Xi’an, Fuzhou, Chengdu, and Changsha, among other cities in China.

The capital injection will go toward the research and development of products, as well as market expansion, said Yongxing Jiang, founder and CEO at CassTime.

The latest investment comes less than half a year after the startup secured US$50 million in a series C2 round led by Greater Bay Area Homeland Investments.

Prior to that, the company closed an accumulative 500 million yuan (US$76.3 million) from both its series B and series B+ rounds in 2018, which was followed by an US$80 million series C1 round led by Sequoia Capital China and Source Code Capital in October 2019.

This year, China’s automotive aftermarket is forecasted to reach almost 1.9 trillion yuan (US$285.6 billion). Similar players in the space include Tencent and Goldman Sachs-backed Tuhu, as well as Alibaba-backed Qiche Chaoren.

Currency converted from Chinese yuan to US dollar: US$1 = 6.65 yuan.