Deal Talk: CarDekho may raise $100 mn; Go-Jek backs social commerce startup Mall91

TechCircle brings you a round-up of technology investment and M&A deals reported from across newsrooms.

CarDekho

New and used cars marketplace CarDekho, owned by Girnar Software, is in the process of raising $100 million growth capital from new and existing investors. 

CarDekho is in talks with Chinese strategic investor Autohome, which is likely to lead the round with $70 million, Mint reported. Existing investor Sequoia will also invest from its $8 billion global growth fund.

With this round of funding, CarDekho's valuation is expected to reach $700 million. 

Girnar Software was founded by siblings Amit and Anurag Jain in 2007. Besides CarDekho, it owns BikeDekho.com, Gaadi.com, TyreDekho.com and online shopping adviser BuyingIQ.com.

The company last raised $110 million in January this year in its Series C round. It was valued between $400-500 million at that time.

CarDekho has registered revenue growth of 92% in the first quarter of FY 2019-20 when compared to the same quarter last year.

Mall91

Social commerce platform Mall91 has raised $7.5 million in a Series A round, led by Go-Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of Indonesia-based ride-hailing unicorn Go-Jek.

Existing investors Beenext, Kalaari Capital, and AngelList India also participated in the funding round, Mint reported.

Mall91 is a regional-language based portal that combines various elements of social commerce including video, gaming, referrals, and chat. With a WhatsApp-based, discovery-led model, the startup is targeting users in Tier 2 and 3 cities.

The startup will use the fresh funds to expand its operations to add eight more languages besides strengthening its supply chain capabilities domestically and internationally. It will also invest in expanding its engineering, operations, marketing, and support teams, the report said, citing the company’s co-founder and CEO Nitin Raj Gupta.

The social commerce segment is populated by a number of players across multiple categories. Gurugram-based AM Marketplaces, which owns fashion-focused social commerce platform Limeroad is a fairly established player in the space. It last raised $30 million in 2015 in a Series C round from US-based hedge fund Tiger Global Management, Matrix and Lightspeed Venture Partners. 

Other players in the segment are GlowRoad, Meesho and DealShare. Since being founded in 2017, GlowRoad has raised $24.3 million from individual investors and venture capital firms. In August, Meesho raised $125 million from South African internet conglomerate Naspers. In October, Jaipur-based DealShare raised $11 million in seed and Series A rounds led by venture capital firm Matrix Partners India and hedge fund Falcon Edge.