Jaipur-based Girnar Software Pvt. Ltd, which owns auto portal CarDekho.com, has raised $70 million (Rs 500 crore) in its Series D round of funding led by Hong Kong-based growth-stage investor Ping An Global Voyager Fund.
Sunley House Capital Management, a subsidiary of global private equity firm Advent International, also participated in the round as did the company's existing investors Sequoia Capital India and Hillhouse Capital.
The new round takes the total that CarDekho has raised so far to more than $250 million.
CarDekho CEO and co-founder Amit Jain said the company will use the fresh capital to strengthen its transaction businesses and expand its international footprint.
The company recently entered the Philippines, its second market in Southeast Asia, by acquiring Carmudi. CarDekho had launched its Indonesia operations in 2016 under the brand name OTO.com.
Ping An Global Voyager Fund is part of China-based Ping An, one of the world’s largest financial services companies and the majority shareholder of China’s largest auto portal Autohome. This transaction is Voyager Fund’s debut deal in India. It prefers investment in fintech and health-tech companies and typically puts between $15 million and $50 million in a portfolio company, according to the statement.
“Auto services are a core component of Ping An’s ‘finance + ecosystem’ strategy, reflected in our majority shareholding in Autohome in China,” said Donald Lacey, managing director at Ping An Global Voyager Fund.
Girnar Software was founded in 2007 by siblings Amit and Anurag Jain. Besides CarDekho, which is an online marketplace for used and new cars, it owns BikeDekho.com, Gaadi.com and TyreDekho.com and online shopping adviser BuyingIQ.com.
For the financial year ended March 2018, Girnar Software posted a 40% growth in revenue while its losses narrowed. Its consolidated net sales grew to Rs 160 crore for 2017-18 from Rs 114 crore the year before.
The company had raised its Series C round in January this year from investors led by Sequoia Capital and private-sector lender Axis Bank.
The company has also acquired a number of ventures to expand its business. In November 2018, it acqui-hired used-car platform Carbiqi. In August 2018, it bought automotive content YouTube channel PowerDrift for an undisclosed amount.
Previously, the company purchased Zigwheels.com from Times Internet in September 2015 and Gaadi.com from Naspers Group in 2014.
Investments in the used-car segment
Besides CarDekho, the used-cars segment in India has a few other significantly funded firms like vertical players CarTrade and Cars24 and horizontal players like Droom.
In October this year, Cars24 Services Pvt. Ltd raised $100 million in a Series D funding round from both existing and new investors.
In September, car marketplace Truebil raised about Rs 7.1 crore from Japanese venture capital firm Spiral Ventures. The Mumbai-based company said it would use the funds to strengthen its technological infrastructure.
Some other players in the segment include Spinny, which raised Rs 92 crore in May as part of its Series A funding from SAIF Partners and Accel. Droom had secured about Rs 220 crore in its Series E funding round late last year.