And capital continues to pour in for CardDekho, the GirnarSoft-owned used cars disovery platform. In what seems to be a first of its kind partnership, CarDekho.com has announced that HDFC Bank has made an undisclosed amount of investment in the company, making it the thir short-investment round for CarDekho within this year itself.
The investment from HDFC Bank comes close on the heels of Series B round of $50 million from Hill House Capital, Tybourne Capital, Sequoia Capital and Mr. Ratan Tata.
CarDekho.com, which is used cars discover platform, is a subsidiary of GirnarSoft, founded by Amit Jain and Anurag Jain in March 2008. The parent company runs similar platforms for bikes, price comparison and more recently, tyres.
It provides information about new and old cars, reviews, and a platform to buy and sell used and new cars. It earns commission for every buyer that goes to the dealer via its portal. It also charges users to list their car for sale on its portal.
CarDekho claims that it is currently drawing close to 17 million visits with 10 million unique visitors per month. It recently acquired Gaadi.com, an automotive portal and Buying IQ, a comparative shopping portal.
Amit Jain CEO of Girnarsoft, said,
This unique partnership with HDFC Bank will help provide the Indian consumer a seamless experience in buying cars and obtaining financing. We want every car buyer in this country to have a pre-approved loan before they even finalise the vehicle that they are seeking. This partnership will re-define how consumers avail new and used car loan finance.
Umang Kumar, President, CarDekho & CEO, Gaadi.com, said,
We expect digital to have a 25% share of auto loan financing within the next four years and are looking to facilitate a billion dollar of auto loans through CarDekho. Used Car Finance is a classic blue ocean market and CarDekho & HDFC Bank can together build that market. This investment by HDFC Bank is a validation of CarDekho’s leadership as a destination for car buyers and the enabling role we can play in transforming online auto finance.
Rakesh Singh, Group Head, Investment Banking, Capital & Commodity Markets, HDFC Bank, said,
Increased internet and mobile phone penetration is overhauling the purchase cycle for the Indian car loan consumer, and as market leaders in the auto financing space we want to ensure that we adapt to meet these changing needs. In Car Dekho and Gaadi, we see an integrated business across new cars and used cars. It is led by a passionate team, determined to provide one stop car purchase solutions to Indian car buyers.
The Indian car loan market is estimated to be worth about Rs. 80,000 crore and HDFC Bank claims to hold about 35% march share.
Other players in the field of online car classified includes Times Group-owned Zigwheels, Carwale, Autoindia.com, etc. Zigwheels.com is owned and operated by Times Internet while Carwale is backed by Sierra Ventures.
