Jaipur-based car service platform CarDekho has completed its $70 million Series D funding.
Ping An Global Voyager Fund, Hillhouse Capital and Sequoia Capital all joined the round. Hillhouse and Sequoia are existing investors.
“We will expand the local business as well as our international ones,” CarDekho chief executive Amit Jain said.
According to Indian media platform Inc42, Ping An Global Voyager Fund invested about $25 million and acquired 24,024 Series D shares. Ping An declined to comment on this information.
This $70 million Series D funding is yet another example of Chinese funds expanding their portfolios into emerging markets. They are actively exploring opportunities in India. According to data from research platform Tracxn, China’s VC investment into Indian companies increased by 86% last year to $5.6 billion. And it shows no sign of a slowdown.
CarDekho started to raise funds for its Series D round in August. Although this is Ping An Global Voyager Fund’s first investment in India, the fund is mirroring its previous investment in Autohome.com – a Chinese website that provides a similar car service. Chinese funds are using their experiences in China to make similar investment calls in India and Southeast Asia.
“Car service was one focus of Ping An’s finance and ecosystem strategy,” Donald Lacey, chief operating officer of Ping An Global Voyager Fund said. “We are delighted to see that CarDekho can roll out all kinds of car financing services in India.”
CarDekho was founded in 2008 in India and has now expanded into Indonesia and Philippine. It provides digital car services including online insurance, second-hand car selling and review videos. The brand has a YouTube account with more than 2 million subscribers.
The Indian company attracted $110 million Series C fundraising in January this year, from 11 investors including CapitalIG, Hillhouse, Sequoia, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Times Internet, Trifecta and Ratan Tata. CarDekho recently acquired online car-classified website Carmudi Philippines in November.
CarDekho claims to have 4,000 new auto dealerships and 3,000 used car dealers across India, and it works with more than 10 financial institutions and 18 insurance companies.
