CarTrade bags $30 million to take on Sequoia-backed CarDekho

Auto classifieds portal CarTrade has raised INR185 crore (over US$30 million) in a funding round led by international private equity fund Warburg Pincus. Canaan Partners and Tiger Global, CarTrade’s earlier investors, also participated in this round. Another previous investor, Epiphany Overseas Ventures, declined to re-up its stake.

CarTrade is one of India’s leading online marketplaces for buyers and sellers of new and used vehicles. It has over 100,000 vehicle listings, price profiles, and certifications for used cars. It conducts car auctions in 80 Indian cities, in which over 1,200 dealers take part. For new buyers, it offers reviews, on-road prices, car comparisons, and auto news.

“The funds raised shall be employed to expand our services. We also plan to focus significantly on the mobile space and provide products and services which will be best in class and in many cases the first of its kind,” founder and CEO of CarTrade Vinay Sanghi said in a statement.

In recent years, India’s used car market has been growing fast, riding on the backs of portals like CarTrade, OLX, and Cardekho. Most of them let individual sellers post ads for free. OLX, for instance, has almost half a million ads for used cars.

Warburg Pincus, like Sequoia, is not a newcomer to Indian startups. The VC firm is also backing Quikr, a cross-category classifieds portal, which recently announced a US$60 million funding round.

CarTrade’s new cash helps to even a competitive playing field. CarDekho, one of CarTrade’s main competitors, is backed by Sequoia Capital. It recently acquired auto portal Gaadi owned by the Ibibo group.

See: Classifieds portal Quikr gets $60M in fresh ammunition to take on OLX

(Source: PTI news agency)