CarDekho, co-promoted by Shark Tank India’s Amit Jain, in talks to appoint i-banks for up to Rs 4,000-cr IPO

CarDekho co-founder Amit Jain

CarDekho.com, a platform to buy and sell cars and related services co-founded by Shark Tank India judge Amit Jain, has opened discussions with investment banks as the company aims to list on Indian bourses sometime next year, people aware of the matter told Moneycontrol.

CarDekho will be the second auto classifieds portal to go public in India after CarTrade Tech Limited, which went public in August 2021, raising Rs 2,998.5 crore in its initial public offering (IPO).

“CarDekho is engaged in talks with several investment banks for its IPO plans. The company is looking to raise around Rs 3,000 crore to Rs 4,000 crore through the IPO. Banker appointments are expected soon,” said one of the people cited above, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The IPO will include a mix of fresh fundraising for the company’s growth plans as well as a secondary share sale by early investors in the company, who are looking to divest part of their shareholding.

CarDekho.com, set up by a bunch of young IIT graduates and which went live in 2008, counts Google Capital, Tybourne Capital, Hillhouse Capital, Sequoia Capital, HDFC Bank, Ratan Tata and Times Internet among its investors.

An email and text messages sent to Jain had not elicited a response at the time of publishing.

CarDekho biz

CarDekho.com helps customers buy cars, whether new or used, providing them with expert reviews, detailed specs and prices, and comparisons on cost as well as features and alternative models, apart from videos and pictures of all car brands and models available in India. The company has tie-ups with many auto manufacturers, more than 4000 car dealers and numerous financial institutions to facilitate the purchase of vehicles.

Besides being a platform for customers to buy and sell cars, CarDekho also provides an array of tech-enabled tools to car manufacturers and car dealers. These include apps for dealer sales executives to manage leads, cloud services for tracking sales performance, call tracker solutions, digital marketing support, virtual online showrooms and outsourced lead management operational process for taking consumers from enquiry to sale.

The company has also expanded beyond India’s borders to Southeast Asia with the launch of its Zigwheels platform in the UAE, Philippines and Malaysia, and Oto brand in Indonesia.

To company has also diversified into car insurance business through InsuranceDekho.Com

Tech IPOs in 2024

After two muted years, tech IPOs are back in vogue in 2024 with food delivery company Swiggy Limited launching this year’s second biggest IPO at Rs 11,327 crore on November 6.

Other tech companies that have gone public in 2024 include FirstCry parent firm Brainbees Solutions, Ola Electric, Unicommerce eSolutions, iXigo.com, Awfis Space Solutions and GoDigit Insurance among others.