China-based online second-hand car retailer Souche.com has raised $100m in series C funding from financial services provider Ant Financial and chauffeured car service Ucar, China Money Network reported yesterday.
Founded in 2012, Souche operates an online marketplace for new and used cars, and also offers a range of services for automotive dealers, including software, finance, certification, transaction and marketing.
The company claims it processes more than RMB10bn ($1.5bn) in transactions through its platform each month, accounting for about 20% of China’s used car market.
Ant Financial, an affiliate of e-commerce firm Alibaba whose businesses include credit scoring service Sesame Credit and online payment platform Alipay, will provide Souche with credit rating and financial services for its newly introduced automotive loans offering.
The service will be made available to all Souche users, which the company said represents about 80% of China’s used car dealerships.
Ucar, an app-based chauffeured ride ordering service that, unlike rivals Uber and Didi Chuxing, owns its fleet of cars, will collaborate with Souche’s used car trading business.
Souche raised $10m in a September 2013 series B round led by Sequoia Capital that featured existing investors Morningside Ventures and Yuan Du Ventures, after securing approximately $1m in January the same year in a round backed by Ferry Venture Capital.
Yao Junhong, founder of Souche, said in a statement: “Incorporating Ant Financial’s capabilities, we will be able to create a seamless online-to-offline automobile financial services platform to used car and new car dealerships across the country.”
– Photo courtesy of Souche