Cars24 eyes $350 million fundraising, plans to go public in 18-24 months: Report

India has seen a massive number of listings in 2021. So far this year, 38 companies had IPOs and raised Rs 71,833.37 crore compared with 16 public issues that raised Rs 31,128 crore in 2020. (Representative image)

Online used car retailer Cars24 Services is nearing a deal to raise around $350 million from DST Global, SoftBank Group and other investors, in a transaction that could value the company at $2 billion.

The Gurugram-based company has also begun talks for an initial public offering (IPO) and is planning to make a stock market debut in 18 to 24 months, Bloomberg reported.

The fundraising round is expected to close in the next two weeks, the report said. Falcon Edge Capital will also participate in the investment round.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story.

Cars24 and SoftBank spokespeople declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg.

Cars 24 had crossed the $1 billion valuation in November 2020, after it raised $200 million from DST Global.

Also read: Used cars demand surges amid COVID scare

The company was founded in 2015 by Vikram Chopra, Mehul Agrawal, Ruchit Agarwal and Gajendra Jangid.

Demand for used cars has risen during the COVID-19 pandemic. A study backed by Mahindra First Choice Wheels found that the purchase decision of 65 percent of consumers who bought a used car was influenced by COVID-19, Moneycontrol recently reported.

India has seen a massive number of listings in 2021. So far this year, 38 companies launched IPOs to raise a total of Rs 71,833.37 crore as compared to 16 public issues that raised Rs 31,128 crore in 2020.

Shares of multi-channel auto platform CarTrade Tech will begin trading on August 20, following its IPO earlier this month.