SoftBank leads $450 million round in Cars24, valued at $1.84 billion

Vikram Chopra, Co-founder and CEO - CARS24

Online used car retailer Cars24 said on September 20 that it has raised $450 million in a funding round led by DST Global, Falcon Edge Capital and new investor SoftBank Vision Fund.

The deal, which includes $110 million debt, valued Cars24 at $1.84 billion, up from a billion dollars in November last year.

Founded in 2015 by Vikram Chopra, Mehul Agrawal, Ruchit Agarwal and Gajendra Jangid, Cars24 also launched in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Australia recently. It has sold 1,000 cars in the UAE in six months.

For most of its history, Cars24 has been a seller focused platform, where you could go to sell a car. The platform would either sell your car to a dealer, or use its auctioning platform to find a buyer for you, along with insurance, servicing, and a loan, if needed. However, in June it also started catering to buyers, potentially expanding its addressable market manifold.

"Traditionally, car selling or buying has been a tiresome process, and only two of 100 people own cars in India. However, over the last six years, we have been working continuously towards fulfilling the dreams of many Indians to own a car by transforming the customer's journey- 'the CARS24 way' that is hassle-free, safe and transparent," co-founder and CEO Vikram Chopra said.

The deal also continues SoftBank's resurgence, having deployed over $2 billion this year in Indian internet companies including Swiggy, Mindtickle, Zeta, OfBusiness and Flipkart, among others.