Exclusive: Used cars marketplace Truebil raises additional capital

Mumbai-based Truebil, an online marketplace for pre-owned cars, has raised additional capital of close to $2 million (Rs 14.74 crore at current exchange rates) from its existing investors, two persons directly in the know told TechCircle.

Existing investor Inventus Capital Partners led the round. The company's other investors Chinese venture capital firm Shunwei Capital, Kae Capital and San-Francisco based Tekton Ventures also put in money, one of the persons mentioned above said.

The investment comes a week after TechCircle had reported that Truebil had secured close to $1 million (Rs 7.40 crore at current exchange rates) in fresh funding from Kalaari Capital.

It is not clear whether the current tranche is part of the investment secured last week. With the fresh capital, the company has raised close to $3 million in its current fundraising exercise.

The current investment valued the three-year-old startup at an estimated $20-22 million (Rs 148-162 crore), the other person mentioned above said.

E-mail queries sent to Truebil, Inventus Capital, Shunwei Capital, Kae Capital and Tekton Ventures seeking more information did not elicit a response at the time of publishing this report.

In February last year, Truebil had raised $3 million (about Rs 20 crore) in a follow-on Series A funding round from Shunwei Capital.

Prior to that, in January 2016, the company had raised $5.5 million (Rs 35 Crore) in a Series A funding round led by Kalaari Capital, Inventus Capital, Kae Capital and San Francisco-based Tekton Ventures.

Truebil

Run by Paix Technology Pvt. Ltd, the company was founded in March 2015 by former Housing.com employees Suraj Kalwani, Ravi Chirania, Shubh Bansal, Rakesh Raman and Shanu Vivek, along with former Fab.com executive Ritesh Pandey and former Rio Tinto official Himanshu Singhal.

Truebil operates an online portal that offers end-to-end services for the sale of pre-owned cars including affordable car loans, paper transfer, warranty servicing, emergency roadside assistance and insurance renewal.

It vets used cars, prepares inspection reports and uploads photographs of dents or scratches so that buyers can shortlist their preferred choice for purchase.

According to information available on its website, Truebil has tied up with Tata Capital and other lenders to ensure easy financing of pre-owned cars in the form of affordable equated monthly instalments. Besides, it provides comprehensive car insurance with zero depreciation for pre-owned vehicles.

The company currently operates in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru.

In the financial year 2016-17, Truebil’s operational revenues grew manifold to Rs 5.63 crore, up from Rs 7.66 lakh in the previous year, according to data available with VCCEdge, the data and research platform of News Corp VCCircle.

Likewise, gross expenses also showed a more than a three-fold rise at Rs 16.32 crore, up from Rs 4.95 crore in the previous year. Consequently, net losses widened to Rs 9.32 crore versus Rs 4.75 crore in the year prior.

Deals in the space

Besides Truebil, the used cars segment in India has other significantly funded firms like vertical players Cars24, CarTrade and CarDekho and horizontal player Droom.

Earlier this month, Droom, an online marketplace for new and used vehicles, closed its Series E funding round at $30 million.

In July, Gurugram-based online portal Cars24, which buys automobiles from individuals and sells them to businesses, raised $50 million (Rs 343 crore) from Sequoia Capital and existing investors.

In March this year, reports stated that Sequoia had invested around $2.5 million in CarDekho’s parent, Girnar Software Pvt. Ltd, as part of a larger Series B round. According to information available on VCCEdge, the company has raised a total of over $96 million in funding till date.

In February, multi-brand used car seller Mahindra First Choice Wheels Ltd secured $15 million (Rs 95.8 crore) from its existing investors US-based digital marketing company Cox Automotive, private equity firm Phi Advisors and US-based hedge fund Valiant Capital.

In January, MXC Solutions India Pvt. Ltd, the operator of CarTrade.com and CarWale.com, acquired Shriram Group’s unit that sells used trucks, buses and other vehicles, for Rs 156.4 crore ($24.5 million).