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Droom founder Sandeep Aggarwal cleared of insider trading charges

Droom founder Sandeep Aggarwal cleared of insider trading charges
Sandeep Aggarwal, founder, Droom
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The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has dropped all charges against Sandeep Aggarwal, founder and CEO of online automobiles marketplace Droom, in an insider trading case from 2013. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also reached a civil settlement with Aggarwal related to the same, the company said in a statement.

Aggarwal was charged by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC) in July 2013 against a set of events that took place in July 2009, when Aggarwal was an capital markets analyst at Wall Street. 

“Those times were tough for me, my family and my team members. However, I am very grateful that the US justice system agreed that the dismissal of all charges against me was the right and just result. Now, we can put this permanently behind us and focus on implementing our long-term vision to permanently change how automobiles are bought and sold in the 21st century,” Aggarwal said. 

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Founded in 2014, Droom offers four marketplace formats i.e. B2C, C2C, C2B, and B2B, and three pricing formats - fixed price, best offer and auction. The platform offers a wide range of categories from bicycles to aeroplanes and all automobile services such as warranty, insurance and loans. 

The company claims to generate $1.2 billion in annualised GMV (gross merchandise value) and a growth rate of 100% year-on-year. The company has so far raised close to $125 million over six rounds of funding. Some of the prominent investors in the company are Lightbox, Beenext, Beenos, Digital Garage, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, and Integrated Assets Management. 

The company last raised funds in October 2018 when it closed a Series E round worth $30 million led by the family office of Japanese investor Joe Hirao.

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“As an investor in Droom and a friend of Sandeep’s I am relieved this chapter in his life is over. We look forward to continuing to work with Sandeep in building Droom to its full potential,” Siddharth Talwar, Droom board member and partner at Lightbox said.

In November 2019, Droom acquired a non-banking financial company (NBFC) Xeraphin to strengthen its lending arm.


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