CarDekho acquires Help on Wheels

Girnar Software Pvt. Ltd, which runs online auto classifieds portal CarDekho, has acquired roadside assistance firm Help on Wheels Pvt. Ltd, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition comes two weeks after Girnar Software raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Google Capital.

The used car market in India is currently as big as the new car market. The report adds that first time buyers in India are increasingly opting for pre-owned cars. Companies operating in the used car space have been raising funds to compete in one of the fastest growing business verticals. Girnar acquisition will help the company compete against its rival Cartrade.com which raised INR 950 crore in funding led by Singapore based investment firm Temasek and March Capital.

The company had raised $30 Million in 2014 from a group of investors that included Tiger Global, Warburg and Canaan Partners. Help on Wheels was founded in 2014 and has a client base of 50,000. All the employees of Help on Wheels will be absorbed by CarDekho. Girnar Software, which operates other portals, including Zigwheels, Gaadi.com, Pricedekho.com and Bikedekho.com, had raised $50 Million in January 2015 from Hillhouse, Tybourne, and Sequoia Capital.

In the last two years, the company has acquired four other companies – Drishya360, Gaadi.com, Zigwheels and BuyingIQ. Other auto classifieds start-ups include Droom Technology Pvt. Ltd, which raised $16 Million in a round led by Lightbox in July last year and Truebil which raised $500,000 in its first funding round from KAE Capital in June last year.

CarTrade buys CarWale

The auto market in India is both huge and disorganized. A number of well-funded online portals have come up in recent times to connect sellers with buyers more efficiently in this chaotic market. But now consolidation is under way as competition gets intense.

Online automobile classifieds firm CarTrade has acquired rival CarWale from German Media conglomerate Axel Springer signaling the rising consolidation in the industry segment. This comes soon after another major player in this space; CarDekho announced the acquisition of Times Internet Zigwheels. Earlier it had acquired another portal called Gaadi from the Ibibo group.

CarTrade buyout of CarWale comes a year after it raised $30 Million in a funding round led by Warburg Pincus and Chip Perry. In November 2013, CarDekho parent company Girnar raised $15 Million in a Series A round of funding from Sequoia Capital. In January 2015, it raised its big Series B round of $50 Million from Chinese investment management firm Hillhouse Capital and Hong Kong based hedge fund Tybourne Capital.

Indian Tycoon Ratan Tata had also pumped in an undisclosed amount into the company. In May, another undisclosed round of funding came from private sector lender HDFC Bank. With all the money in the bank, CarDekho has some serious muscle to flex in its tussle         with CarTrade.