In the late 2000s in India, the automobile industry was undergoing a huge transformation as many new budding entrepreneurs launched their own car companies to cash in on the hype. The idea behind all these new startups was to make the automobile dealing process as smooth and simple as possible. There was a need to turn this rigorous, fragmented, and precarious process into a more trusted and organized structure. There was a requirement for a well-designed platform where users could get solutions to all car-dealing-related queries and provide a marketplace where people can buy or sell cars.
Following the same ideology, Vinay Sanghla in 2009 founded an Auto E-Commerce platform and named it CarTrade – an automotive market for buyers and sellers of new and used vehicles. The Business-To-Customer (B2C) firm has its headquarters in Mumbai. It is also allowes the users to read auto news and reviews, and compare prices. Cartrade have earned themselves the spot as one of the most ingenious and ambitious company in the start-up ecosystem.
Recent In News
In the fiscal year 2024, CarTrade’s PAT stood at ₹20Cr on a total revenue of ₹555.23Cr. Following its Q4 and FY24 earnings announcement, the shares of CarTrade jumped as much as 14% to ₹855 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
First Traction
The firm raised its first funding round on 15 Dec 2010. The amount invested was $4.9M and the investment was led by Canaan and Ephiphany Ventures.
Year-over-Year Analysis
In 2020, the firm had a valuation of $535M. The total revenue that year was recorded at ₹318.3Cr. The firm had secured $258M over 5 rounds by the end of this financial year. The company gained a net profit of ₹28.9Cr in FY19-20.
The next fiscal year, the overall revenue decline to ₹281.5Cr from ₹318.3Cr in 2020. The growth rate stood at a negative 11.5%. The valuation of the company in FY21 was $535M. The firm didn’t manage to raise any funds this year. The net profit skyrocketed to ₹103.4Cr in FY20-21 from ₹28.9Cr in the previous year.
For FY22, the gross revenue surged to ₹359Cr as the observed growth rate reported was 27.5%. Continuing the trend, the firm didn’t secure any funds this year as well. The E-Commerce startup moved out of the profitability bracket this year as it reported a net loss of ₹121.4Cr.
As of FY22-23, the total revenue generated was ₹427.7Cr. The observed growth rate recorded was 19.1%. The online platform for all car-related querie, CarTrade jumped back into the proftiabiltiy bracket in this year as the net profit stood at ₹40.4Cr in this fiscal year.
In FY24, the total revenue grew to ₹555.2Cr from ₹427.7Cr in the last year. The growt rate observed was 29.8%. The firm though didn’t raised any fundings this year. The net profit recorded at the end of this financial year was ₹82.1Cr.
Expansion and Acquisitions
Last year, Automotive platform CarTrade Tech has launched CarTrade Ventures and is planning to invest Rs 750 crore in the next 5-7 years to fund acquisition and investment in the automotive space under this business initiative. The company, in a statement, said it will look to acquire and invest in companies offering differentiated services and technology in the automotive space. In a major consolidation move in India’s used cars business, CarTrade has completed the acquisition of a 100% stake in Sobek Auto India Private Limited, consisting of the OLX classifieds platform and OLX Autos C2B transaction business, for ₹535.54 Cr. Its other acquisitions involve acquistion of 51% stake in SAMIL, acquisition of CarWale for $80.1M and acquiring of Adroit Technical Services.
Competitors
Alternatives of the B2C-modeled firm includes CarDekho, Droom, Truebil, Carnation. The Mumbai-Headquartered automobile company has a market share of 6% to date.
