CarDekho SEA, a Singapore-based auto financing service platform, has raised $60 million in fairness, valuing the corporate at over $300 million, from Navis Capital Partners and Dragon Fund. This is its first spherical of exterior funding, following a earlier funding of $40 million from its father or mother firm, CarDekho Group.
The firm, the Southeast Asia unit of India’s CarDekho Group, will use the funding to help its additional enlargement into Southeast Asia, specializing in the used automotive and bike financing trade in Indonesia and the used auto financing sector within the Philippines, Umang Kumar, co-founder and president of CarDekho, stated in an interview with TechCrunch.
Kumar advised TechCrunch that buying a used automotive financing platform or insurance coverage brokerage platform in Indonesia and the Philippines may very well be one in every of its methods to extend their presence within the area.
“We do have a few property lined up by way of what we are going to take a look at. You could hear one thing alongside these strains inside a month or two…we are going to actively take a look at buying actions. The thought is just not fully organically constructed. So we are going to take a look at some inorganic acquisition as we construct out our enterprise throughout Southeast,” Kumar stated.
Founded in 2020, the corporate already has a big presence in Indonesia (OTO Indonesia) and the Philippines (Carmudi Philippines and Zigwheels Philippines). It’s additionally in a couple of different Southeast Asian markets, corresponding to Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam, and is eyeing enlargement into new markets in 2026.
Kumar defined that the corporate initially had a three way partnership associate in Indonesia however later purchased out the native associate fully, turning into the 100% proprietor of the entity between 2019 and 2020. The firm’s acquisition spree continues because it acquired Carmudi, which operates within the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand, in 2021 to broaden into SEA, Kumar defined.
Unlike its friends, CarDekho search engine optimisation acts as a complete aggregator for auto financing companies. Its principal competitor was Moladin, which has now pivoted to develop into a full-fledged lender.
CarDekho SEA highlights its edges, together with its technology-driven mortgage procedures, asset-light market strategy with no credit score threat, an intensive community of used automotive sellers and brokers, and strong collaborations with monetary establishments. CarDekho SEA will use AI and machine studying options to cut back fraud and credit score dangers and supply extra knowledge to their financing companions to achieve a altering technological surroundings.
Since its launch, the corporate has skilled important progress, with over 200,000 disbursements and over $1 billion in loans disbursed. This represents a 50x enhance in gross merchandise worth over the previous three years and establishing partnerships with over 50 financiers and 20,000 sellers and retail brokers.
Its main prospects are small-scale used automotive sellers, with many having lower than ten vehicles in inventory or no bodily showroom in any respect. “Due to their sub-scale presence, financiers typically discover it difficult to serve them instantly,” the CEO stated. “Our platform aggregates demand from these particular person sellers, connecting them to a large community of financiers and providing entry to a wide range of monetary merchandise for themselves and their prospects—merchandise that had been beforehand inaccessible to them.”
The firm is within the scale-up part, producing upwards of $50 million in income yearly by way of per-loan commissions with the financiers.
