CarDekho SEA, the Southeast Asia business unit of India’s CarDekho Group, has announced raising $60 million in a funding round to expand its automotive and financial solutions in the region, including in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The financing, the first external funding for the company, was co-anchored by Navis Capital Partners and Dragon Fund, per the announcement.
The announcement confirms DealStreetAsia’s report in May that CarDekho SEA was finalising its maiden funding round with Navis Capital Partners as one of the lead investors.
CarDekho SEA, headquartered in Singapore, offers used car finance and refinance loans, dealer inventory funding, and classifieds. It has a strong presence in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam.
The company said it will use the fresh capital to enhance the group’s existing capabilities in Indonesian used car and bike financing and to support further expansion into the used auto financing sector in the Philippines.
“By replicating our Indian playbook for international markets, we’ve been able to understand and solve consumer needs across diverse cultures and regions,” said Amit Jain, co-founder and CEO of the CarDekho Group.
Founded in 2008 by brothers Amit Jain and Anurag Jain, CarDekho helps buyers make informed decisions based on reviews, prices, comparisons, videos and pictures, and many other aspects. It also offers a platform for the sale of used cars, an app for dealers to manage leads, and cloud services for tracking sales performance, among other services.
Since its 2020 launch, CarDekho SEA said it has achieved growth, including over 200,000 disbursements, surpassing $1 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV), and establishing partnerships with over 50 financiers and 20,000 dealers and retail agents, a 50x increase in GMV demonstrating exponential growth over the past three years.
CarDekho entered Indonesia in 2016 under the brand name OTO.com. Later in 2019, the group forayed into the Philippines by acquiring Carmudi.
In India, the group operates several entities including CarDekho, which is a used-car platform; Gaadi, an automobile classifieds portal; ZigWheels, an automotive and motorcycle website; Powerdrift, a YouTube channel for automotive content; BikeDekho for buying and selling bikes; and OTO.com.
CarDekho entered the unicorn club in 2021 after raising $250 million at a valuation of $1.2 billion as part of its Series E round. Leapfrog Investments had led the financing, alongside Canyon Partners, Mirae Asset, Harbor Spring Capital and Sequoia Capital India (now Peak XV Partners) and Sunley House.
