Google Capital In Talks To Back Indian Auto Classified Major CarDekho

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MUMBAI – Auto classifieds major CarDekho is close to receiving a fresh round of funds led by growth-stage investor Google Capital, which has so far taken selective bets on Indian startups, people familiar with the matter told TOI. The size of the round is likely to be in the range of Rs 150-200 crore and will see the portal’s existing investors also participate. An investor in Lending Club and Survey Monkey, Google Capital, which set up an office in Bangalore earlier this year – its only outpost away from Silicon Valley – has backed Freshdesk, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup, CommonFloor, a realty portal, and Practo, a health tech venture in India.

CarDekho was valued at $300 million when it received $50 million in its previous financing round led by China’s Hillhouse Capital, Tybourne Capital and its existing investor venture fund Sequoia Capital. Ratan Tata and HDFC Bank, India’s second largest private bank by assets, have also picked up minority stakes in the Jaipur-based company. TOI could not ascertain the valuation at which the latest funding is being done.

When contacted, Amit Jain, co-founder, Girnar Soft, which runs CarDekho, did not comment on the fund-raise, while an email sent to Google Capital did not elicit a response till the time of going to press.

There has been a spate of consolidation in the crowded online classifieds space this year with multiple mergers and acquisitions. Last month, Warburg Pincus and Tiger Global backed-CarTrade acquired rival CarWale from German media conglomerate Axel Springer for around $90 million, making it a two-horse race between the combined entity and CarDekho, which has been acquisitive over the past year. Girnar Soft bought out Zigwheels, an auto portal run by Times Internet, part of the Times Group which publishes this newspaper, after having acquired Naspers-owned Gaadi.com last year to strengthen its used car business. Online classifieds major Quikr, which launched verticals like jobs, local services, homes and automobiles, has also emerged a formidable competitor to the specialized players this year. Besides, introducing separate verticals, Quikr is also close to finalizing a deal with CommonFloor, which is likely to bolster its presence in the realty listings space.

Girnar Soft, which owns and operates CarDekh.com, BikeDekho.com and PriceDekho.com, claims to be registering 33 million combined monthly visitors, inclusive of the traffic it generates from Gaadi.com. The portal’s used car business has seen an uptick post Gaadi coming into its fold.

The second hand car market, which is largely unorganized, is as big as the new car business in terms of volumes. So there is huge potential to take those businesses online. The cash burns incurred by these players compared to typical horizontal e-commerce companies is lesser so investors can expect good returns in a relatively shorter time, said Harish V, partner at consultancy firm Grant Thornton.