Insurance group Ping An’s Global Voyager Fund made its first investment in India today, leading a $70m series D round for online automotive marketplace CarDekho.
Sequoia Capital and Hillhouse Capital also contributed to the round, which valued CarDekho at $700m post-money, a person familiar with the matter told LiveMint.
Founded in 2008, CarDekho operates an online marketplace where customers can purchase, review and compare cars. It also runs an auction platform for second-hand vehicles and an insurance arm in addition to running a car-focused channel on video streaming platform YouTube.
The company’s portfolio also includes an e-commerce store for car and bike tyres and a dedicated marketplace where large vehicles ranging from pickup trucks to commercial lorries can be purchased.
CarDekho will use the series D capital to strengthen its domestic and international businesses – it is also active in Indonesia and the Philippines – and to work towards a goal of becoming the largest provider of full-stack automotive services in India.
The company completed a $129m series C round in August this year after adding $19m in an extension led by India Mobility Holdings, and backed by Kreatif Media Karya, a subsidiary of media group Emtek, and Hillhouse Capital.
Digital marketing agency Dentsu and media group Bennett Coleman & Co contributed to a $75m first tranche for the round in October 2018 together with financial services firm HDFC Bank and Tybourne Capital.
The round’s $110m second close came in in January with contributions from internet and technology conglomerate Alphabet’s CapitalG unit, financial services firm Axis Bank, Sequoia, Hillhouse, Aquila Capital and RNT Associates.
CapitalG led a $15m round for CarDekho in 2016 that also featured Hillhouse. HDFC had already invested an undisclosed amount in May 2015, four months after Hillhouse, Tybourne, Ratan Tata and existing backer Sequoia had injected $50m in funding at a $300m valuation.
