CarTrade raises $55M to bolster growth through acquisitions

CarTrade, an India-based online automobile classifieds platform, has raised $55 million led by Temasek, an investment company based in Singapore. The funding round was also co-led by a large US family office. According to the company, this injection of capital will be used to support CarTrade’s growth plans through acquisitions, expansion into new areas such as auto finance and to further sharpen its services to consumers, dealers and OEMs.

“CarTrade is on arapid growth trajectory. The funds raised will be used to drive growth through continued focus on strengthening our dealer and customer services and evaluating potential acquisitions,” said Vinay Sanghi, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, CarTrade.

He further added that CarTrade is aggressively looking at the market for used car finance with less than 8% of used cars sold being financed through an organized financier. To address this opportunity, CarTrade Finance was recently launched with the aim of financing the inventory for car dealers and to consumers who wish to buy used cars. Last year, MXC Solutions that operates as Cartrade’s business had announced to have raised around $140 million (INR 950 cr) in a funding round led by Temasek and March Capital, with participation from Warburg Pincus. Also, the company had raised $30 million in 2014 from a group of investors that included Tiger Global, Warburg and Canaan Partners. CarTrade’s existing investors include Warburg Pincus, Temasek, JP Morgan and March Capital. Following the merger of CarTrade with Carwale in January 2016, CarTrade claims to have about 15 million unique customers per month, in both used and new cars with approximately 8,000 new and used car dealer partners.