CarDekho.com owner Girnar Software in talks to raise Rs 300 cr from investors

Swadha Mishra

NEW DELHI: Jaipur-headquartered Girnar Software Private Limited, also known as GirnarSoft, is in talks with investors to raise its second round of funding in the next 1-2 months, a top company executive told EntrepreneurIndia.com. The amount is estimated to be around Rs 300 crore.

Sharing his views on where the raised fund will be utilised, L K Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer, CarDekho.com, told Entrepreneur India, "The fund will be used for expansion, marketing, technology and team development beacuse we are growing in numbers. We expect to double our revenue over the next 3 years."

Gupta was here to launch the 5th edition of the biggest car exhibition and sales platform 'Mega Carnival' for consumers in Delhi-NCR organised by CarDekho.com. The exhibition took place on 17-18 January, 2015.

Founded in the year 2007 by brothers Amit and Anurag Jain, both IIT-Delhi alumni, Girnar Software is engaged in website and mobile application development, testing and Q&A services. It also operates three popular internet portals CarDekho.com, BikeDekho.com (a similar portal for bikes) and PriceDekho.com (a price comparison site for gadgets). The firm employs over 500 people across 11 major Indian cities.

Before taking the entrepreneurial path, Jain has handled product development and programme management roles at US-based Trilogy, while Anurag has software development and operations research experience at Sabre Holdings and i2 Technologies.

The group company was valued at Rs 250 crore when it picked up its Series A round of funding for about $15 million from Sequoia Capital in November 2013. After the second round of funding, the firm is expected to be valued at more than Rs 1,500 crore. The group's vision is to be a billion dollar company before 2021 with global footprint by creating innovative products and services.

Apart from offering consumers with an online platform to list their used cars on a freemium model, CarDekho.com offers a variety of research tools, expert reviews, user reviews, on road prices in all cities along with pictures and list of dealers. It also offers an end-to-end solution by facilitating car finance and insurance options to its consumers.

Founded in March 2008, CarDekho.com has gathered critical business momentum through its strategic partnerships with leading OEMs and accounts for 10 per cent of national sales for them. The firm currently works with over 2,500 new and used car dealers including leading organised retail used car dealers like Mahindra First Choice and Carnation. The website has over 25,000 used cars listed across several Indian cities and towns.

At present, the website is drawing close to 11 million visits per month with 7.5 million unique visitors per month. The company recently acquired another top automotive portal Gaadi.com to add to its used car portfolio.

CarDekho recently received the 'Website of The Year 2014' award at recently held WOTY awards in Hyderabad on the basis of its content, navigation, design and recommendation intention.