CarDekho Success Story – Making Car Searching Easy for You

CarDekho is one such company that runs a portal for searching cars across the country. It is one of the few unicorn startups in India with a valuation of around $1.2 Billion. The website has almost everything under the umbrella about an automobile. They also provide various other services such as fresh updates, car features, prices, car videos and images, recent launches, or any other specifications. Just like any other startup, this company had to face similar challenges in the beginning. But once the company took its own space, it has never looked back since then. So, let us get into this article to read the success story of this amazing company.

CarDekho – Key Highlights

• Startup Name – CarDekho
• Founder – Amit Jain, Anurag Jain, Umang Kumar
• Founded – 2007
• Parent Organization – Girnar Software Pvt. Ltd.
• Sector – Automotive Ecommerce
• Revenue - $125.49 Million
• Total Funding - $497.5 Million
• Valuation - $1.2 Billion
• Website – cardekho.com

CarDekho – Founders and Team

• Amit Jain – He is the CEO & co-founder of the company. Amit holds a degree in B.tech Civil Engineering from IIT Delhi. He has worked with many companies such as TCS and Trilogy.
• Anurag Jain – He is the COO and co-founder of the company. Anurag holds a degree in Integrated Masters of Technology in MCE. He served as a senior system consultant & senior operations research analyst and worked with companies such as i2 Technologies and Sabre Holdings.
• Umang Jain – He has been the co-founder of CarDekho since they acquired Gaadi.com. Anurag holds a degree in BE Computer from Visvesvarya Technological University. He also went to ISB to pursue PG Diploma in Management and later joined Harvard Business School for Naspers Program. Umang was the co-founder of gaadi.com and he also founded Accentium Web.

CarDekho – Brand Name, Logo, and Tagline

• Brand Name – The brand name of the company is appropriate because the startup wants the customers to browse cars and car-related information on their website.
• Logo – The logo of the company is in catchy red colour that is quite stinking on the eyes of the users. The logo is simplistic and classy.
• Tagline – The company’s tagline is – Right Car, Right Now.

CarDekho – Business Model

CarDekho works on an e-commerce platform for used cars and an eCommerce website for car enthusiasts.

CarDekho – Revenue Model

The company’s revenue model is clear-cut and simple. It earns its revenue through various mediums such as:

• Car insurances
• Adsense
• Commissions
• Lead generation
• Affiliate Marketing
• Sponsored advertisements

CarDekho – Growth

Some of the growth factors of the company are as follows:

• They have served more than 20 crores, of unique visitors, on their platform.
• They had over 3 crores, new visitors, in just 1 year.
• The company recorded 1.7 lakh car sales across India in just a few years of incorporation.
• Their iOS app attained more than 1 lakh downloads in just 1 month of launch.
• Its unique visitors on the website doubled in 2014 only and revenue increased by 3 times.
• They are employed more than 600 people by the end of 2014.
• The company launched various other companies such as BikeDekho, MobileDekho, CollegeDekho, PriceDekho, and many others under its umbrella.
• CarDekho works with more than 3000 used car dealers and 4000 new auto dealers across India.
• They also collaborated with 20 insurance companies and 15 financial institutions to provide the best experience for both sellers and buyers.
• The company has around 100 operational stores across India.

CarDekho – Revenue

CarDekho’s revenue by the end of FY 2019 was Rs 260 crores, Rs 755 crores in FY 2020 and Rs 936 crores in FY 2021.

Their operating revenue grew by 20% from Rs 706 cr in FY 2020 to Rs 884 cr in FY 2021. CarDekho's current losses stand at Rs. 342 crores in FY 2021.

CarDekho – Ivenstors and Funding

CarDekho raised $497.5 M funding in 9 rounds of funding. Some of its funding and investors are as follows:

• $15 M – Series A round, Sequoia Capital India, Nov 27, 2013
• $50 M – Series B round, Hillhouse Capital Group, Bourne Capital, Jan 28, 205
• Undisclosed Amount – Venture round, HDFC bank, May 28, 2015
• Undisclosed Amount – Venture Round, CapitalG, Mar 21, 2016
• $2.5 M – Series B round, Sequoia Capital India, Mar 21, 2018
• $110 M – Series C round, CapitalG, Hillhouse Capital, Jan 3, 2019
• $70 M – Series D round, Ping An Global Voyager Fund, Dec 5, 2019
• $50 M – Debt Financing, Oct 13, 2021
• $200 M – Series E round, LeapFrog Investments, Oct 13, 2021

CarDekho – Awards

CarDekho has won several awards for its extraordinary performance in this field. Some of its awards and achievements are as follows:

• Best Car Website – 2012
• Website of the Year India – 2011, 2012
• Best Automotive Website – 2009
• Most Popular Website - 2012

CarDekho – Acquisitions

Some of the acquisitions of the company are as follows:

• Gaadi Web – Sep 2014
• ZigWheels – Sep 2015
• Carmudi Philippines – Nov 2019

CarDekho – Competitors

CarDekho is one of the top players in this industry and it has a good market share, but it still has many competitors. Some of the main competitors of the company are as follows:

• Droom
• Olx
• Cars24
• Quikr
• Mahindra First Choice Wheels

CarDekho – Challenges Faced

CarDekho being a startup, had to face several challenges in its entrepreneurial journey. Some of the main challenges faced by the company are as follows:

• Establishing in the market – CarDekho faced numerous challenges while establishing itself in this highly competitive market. They felt dominated by many disorganized players and new cars.
• Competitors – However, CarDekho is one of the leading players in the market, it still has to face various competitors in the market. Some of them have a good customer base and they are performing well at various levels. They also have to fight any newcomers in the markets while tackling all the present ones.
• Adequate supply – This is also one of the challenges for the company. Ensuring an ample supply of used cars is not as easy as it sounds. This situation always becomes an issue for many companies in this industry.

CarDekho – Future Plans

CarDekho has many exciting plans for the coming future. Some of the upcoming plans of the company are as follows:

• The company is planning to expand its business to the Southeast Asian markets.
• CarDekho is looking to establish its growth in the automotive ecosystem.
• The company will be hiring more employees as they are rapidly growing.
• They want to increase their operations in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, etc.