IPO-Bound Automobile Unicorn CarDekho Sets Up Fintech Platform Rupyy

Automobile marketplace unicorn CarDekho has launched a fintech platform Rupyy. According to the startup, its subsidiary CarDekho Financial Services will be transformed and merged into Rupyy. 

Rupyy, which is a digital lending platform, will offer a paperless loan in a matter of a few minutes. Further, it will offer a slew of financial products including new car and used car loans, two-wheeler, personal, and car loans, among others.

To avail loan through Rupyy, customers have to scan QR code at car dealerships. Following this, they have to do KYC verification, e-NACH and sign an online agreement to get their loan sanctioned at the point of sale. 

With the launch of Rupyy, CarDekho aims to become a go-to place for all financial requirements of automobile consumers and retailers. The parent company plans to add more categories and create new-age financial products under Rupyy. 

CarDekho Financial Services, which is merged into Rupyy, claims to have a monthly run-rate (MRR) of INR 400 Cr in used car finance disbursals in FY22. It has an annualised run rate of INR 5,000 Cr loan disbursals in FY22. It has more than 1,750 channel partners and more than 80 hubs in India.

Founded in 2007 by Amit Jain and Anurag Jain, CarDekho is a search and ecommerce platform for new and used cars. It operates several auto platforms including Gaadi.com, ZigWheels.com, BikeDekho.com, and PowerDrift.com, among others. It claims that it has more than 5000 certified pre-owned cars for customers to buy from its portal. 

In January 2022, CarDekho posted an earning of INR 884.3 Cr from operations in FY21, which is a nearly 25% rise from INR 706.2 Cr it posted earlier from operations in FY20. It clocked INR 51 Cr as other income in FY21 thus, growing the startup’s cumulative income to INR 936 Cr.

In December 2022, CarDekho expanded its footprint in the Southeast Asian market. It began operations in Malaysia and acquired operations of Carmudi in the Philippines. It already operates in Indonesia under the name OTO.

In October 2021, CarDekho’s parent CarDekho Group joined the unicorn club after raising $200 Mn in an equity Series E round and $50 Mn in debt led by Leapfrog Investments. Other investors, who participated in the round, are Canyon Partners, Mirae Asset, Harbor Spring Capital and existing investors Sequoia Capital India and Sunley House. 

Following this round, CarDekho Group was pegged at $1.2 Bn. 

CarDekho is also planning for an IPO in 2023. Some of its competitors in the used car segment are Droom, Cars24, Spinny, OLX, Quikr, OlaCars and CarTrade.

According to a report, the Indian used car market was valued at $32.14 Bn in 2021 and is expected to reach $74.70 Bn in 2027, registering a CAGR of 15.1% during the forecast period (2022-2027). 

The pre-owned car market recorded sales of 4.4 Mn units in FY2020 compared to only 2.8 Mn units of new passenger vehicles in the same year.

In February 2022, used car marketplace Cars24 announced its annual ESOP buyback worth INR 75 Cr to reward its employees. The startup initiated ESOP buyback at the beginning of 2022. The value of total ESOP buyback for the company till date stands at INR 113 Cr.In 2021, used car retailing platform Spinny raised $108 Mn in its Series D round led by Tiger Global. The round saw participation from new investors including Avenir Growth along with existing investors such as General Catalysts, among others.

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