Automobile classifieds portal CarTrade, which had earlier acquired and integrated platforms like CarWale, Shriram Automall, BikeWale and Adroit Auto, is looking to sharpen its strategy on automotive bets through venture arm.
The Mumbai-based company’s newly launched CarTrade Ventures will invest up to Rs 750 crore over a period of five to seven years, it said in a statement.
It further added that the investments will help CarTrade to either make foray into a new market or tapping new products and technologies for existing customers.
CarTrade seeks to use the company’s profits and capital to fund these investments. It is also actively looking to acquire and invest in companies that are driving innovation in the automobile ecosystem, which includes auto finance, leasing, insurance, servicing, car ownership, electric vehicles, clean energy and new-age technologies.
“We have launched CarTrade Ventures to invest in new age technologies and to digitalize the buying, selling and ownership of vehicles, and be a key enabler in the growth of the auto ecosystem.
To facilitate this, we are looking to deploy up to Rs 750 crore for acquiring and investing in companies that are driving innovation in the global auto ecosystem, so that we can offer the consumer a great online auto shopping and ownership experience,” said Vinay Sanghi, founder and chairman, CarTrade Tech Group.
CarTrade was founded in 2009 by Sanghi, former chief executive of Mahindra First Choice. It serves as a multi-channel auto-discovery and classifieds platform with a presence across vehicle types and value-added services. The company claims that the platform received 35 million average monthly unique visitors in Q3 FY23.
Over the last few years, CarTrade Tech had acquired and integrated CarWale – online new and used car discovery platform, Shriram Automall (SAMIL) – an auto auction platform, BikeWale – an online two-wheeler discovery platform and Adroit Auto – auto inspections and valuations platform.
The platform operates under several brands, which includes, CarWale, CarTrade, Shriram Automall, BikeWale, CarTrade Exchange, Adroit Auto and AutoBiz. These platforms enable new and used automobile customers, vehicle dealerships, vehicle OEMs, and other businesses to buy and sell vehicles in a simple and efficient manner.
