In November 2015, CarTrade acquired rival CarWale, and the combined entity has about 15M unique customers per month, and partners with 8,000 dealers

CarTrade, a leading online automobile classifieds platform in India, has raised US$55 million, led by existing investor Singapore-based Temasek Holdings, with participation from a large family office in the US.

This capital injection will be used to support CarTrade’s growth plans through acquisitions, expansion into new areas, such as auto finance, and to further sharpen its services to consumers, dealers and OEMs.

Vinay Sanghi, Founder and CEO, CarTrade, said: “The funds raised will be used to drive growth through continued focus on strengthening our dealer and customer services and evaluating potential acquisitions. CarTrade is aggressively looking at the market for used car finance with less than 8 per cent of used cars sold being financed through an organised financier. To address this opportunity, CarTrade Finance was recently launched with the aim of financing the inventory for car dealers and to consumers who wish to buy used cars.”

This funding comes exactly a year after it raised US$145 million Temasek Holdings and global VC fund March Capital. Previously, it has secured US$30 million from Warburg Pincus, and existing investors Canaan Partners and Tiger Global in October 2014.

In November 2015, CarTrade acquired rival CarWale from German media conglomerate Axel Springer. The combined entity has about 15 million unique customers per month, and partnered with approximately 8,000 new and used car dealer partners, it said in a press release. The platforms list more than 200,000 used cars for sale and auction over 200,000 vehicles to the wholesale market every year.

CarTrade.com helps consumers to buy and sell new and used cars. For new car buyers, there are a host of features such as reviews, on-road prices, car comparisons and latest news. The site has new and used car dealers from all over the country who list their cars for sale.

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