CarDekho parent buys YouTube automotive content channel PowerDrift

Jaipur-based Girnar Software Pvt. Ltd, which owns auto portals CarDekho.com, BikeDekho.com and Gaadi.com, has acquired automotive content YouTube channel PowerDrift for an undisclosed amount.

Owned and operated by PowerDrift Studios Private Limited, the YouTube channel uploads videos reviews of cars and motorcycles. The channel, launched in 2012 by Rohan Albal and Amit Shetty, has about a million subscribers today.

PowerDrift claims to have generated 240 million lifetime views on its channel, with an average of 200,000 views per video.

“Showcasing Indian motoring in a unique and world class way has been the founding principle of PowerDrift. This alliance enables us in creating more exciting content, but also offers great value to our viewers,” said Albal, co-founder and chief executive of PowerDrift.

Girnar Software, founded in 2007 by siblings Amit Jain and Anurag Jain, also owns TyreDekho.com and BuyingIQ.com (online shopping adviser). In 2014, Girnar had acquired Naspers Group-owned Gaadi.com. It also bought Zigwheels.com from Times Internet in September 2015. The same year, it invested $1 million in edu-tech startup CollegeDekho. Besides Gaadi.com and Zigwheels.com, Girnar Software acquired several other companies. These include Drishya360s (virtual reality), Volob Technologies (AR-VR focused visual communications), Connecto (SaaS start-up), Help on Wheels (roadside assistance), Valueserve  Management Consultants Pvt. Ltd (consulting firm), and Advanced Structures India (car-testing and benchmarking firm).

According to a report by YourStory, Girnar Software had raised $3.6 million (Rs 25 crore) of debt funding from Trifecta Venture Debt Fund-1 in July this year.

In March, reports stated that Sequoia invested around $2.5 million as part of a larger Series B round in CarDekho.

In March 2016, Girnar Software secured an undisclosed amount of investment from Google Capital, as part of its extended Series B funding round.

In January 2015, it had raised $50 million in the first tranche of its Series B funding round led by Hillhouse Capital, with participation from Sequoia Capital and Tybourne Capital. The investment was done at a $300 million post-money valuation.

According to information available at VCCEdge, the data and research platform of News Corp VCCircle, Girnar Software has raised a little over $96 million in funding till date (excluding the recent debt funding).

The company primarily competes with MXC Solutions India Pvt. Ltd, the operator of CarTrade.com and Carwale.com websites. In January this year, CarTrade had agreed to buy Shriram Group’s unit that sells used trucks, buses and other vehicles for Rs 156.4 crore ($24.5 million). Backed by investors such as Temasek Holdings, Warburg Pincus and Tiger Global, CarTrade has cumulatively raised more than $240 million so far.

Gurugram-based online portal Cars24, which buys automobiles from individuals and sells them to businesses, had recently raised $50 million (Rs 343 crore) from Silicon Valley venture capital giant Sequoia Capital and existing investors. Its existing investors are Cayman Islands-based Kingsway FCI Fund and Toronto-based KCK Global. 

Other funded companies in the space include Droom, Spinny and Truebil. CarTrade also competes with classified portals such as Quikr and OLX.