CarPrice Secures $40 million in Series B Round
Moscow (PRWEB) July 23, 2015 -- CarPrice, the leading Russian online used car broker and auctioneer, announced today that it closed $40 million in Series B funding led by Baring Vostok Private Equity Fund V, with additional participation from Almaz Capital and other investors. The funding will be used to expand further CarPrice’s footprint in Russia, as the Company expands across many new regions. Proceeds from the investment round will also be used towards international expansion and to increase car stock.
“We are very excited that the fund of Baring Vostok has become a partner for one of the fastest growing companies in Russia. The great growth trajectory of CarPrice at the time when both new and used car markets are declining shows high demand for the service from the sellers and buyers of used cars. The market addressed by the company is huge and we believe CarPrice is able to capture a significant part of this market using the marketplace model. The new round of funding will further solidify the leadership position of the company” said Elena Ivashentseva of Baring Vostok Capital Partners.
CarPrice is the first to develop a C2B business model in second-hand car distribution in Russia. It is the country's largest broker and online auctioneer for second-hand cars. It provides car buyers with free online valuation in a matter of seconds. More than 1,000dealers from across Russia determine the best competitive price during an average 30 minute online bidding process to complete the auction. When the offered price is accepted by sellers, they collect the amount due to them in CarPrice outlets.
Within a year from being set up, CarPrice became a top five Russian used car seller operating from more than 20 locations including Moscow, St. Petersburg and the regions. CarPrice achieved this position while an adverse economic environment translated into a 40% drop in new car sales in Russia. The Company intends to increase total monthly auctions from 4,000 currently to 10,000 until the end of 2015.
"Our technology has revolutionized the traditional used car market. In developing a credible alternative to traditional channels such as classifieds, we have increased significantly the share of secondary deals in total second hand car transactions” said CarPrice CEO Eduard Gurinovich. “The Russian economy has seen recently a collapse of the new car market. It is fairly obvious that buyers are increasingly shifting to second hand cars. This investment will help us achieve sector leadership.”
The service raised its previous investments rounds from Almaz Capital, Fastlane Venture, e.ventures and CarPrice’s co-founder, Oskar Hartmann and other investors to expand it parner car dealer network.
“CarPrice implemented its technological solutions to the offline auto market and achieved a leading gain in very short terms, which is why we decided to invest again and increase our company share,” commented Alexander Galitsky, founder and managing partner of Almaz Capital Partners. “In addition to financial investments, we will use the resources within our professional network and partners’ experiences to scale the company's success throughout the country and across borders.”
"For us, the forecast of online auto auctioning is worth the investment. CarPrice’s sectoral leadership and technical offering have undoubtedly made a mark on used-car sales and market demand - and we’re ready for the ride!” - commented Alexander Galitsky of Almaz Capital, board member of CarPrice.
Alexander Chernyak, who also invested in CarPrice commented: “The key impact on the decision to invest more in CarPrice was made by its reliability and business dynamics — since its founding date the company delivers strong financial results. New investments will enable the service to strengthen its leading position on the Russian market, and also to implement an ambitious development strategy, including further regional expansion. Alongside CarPrice, the investor’s portfolio include Settle and Allset.”
About Carprice
CarPrice is the first Russian C2B online auctioneer for second hand cars. CarPrice guarantees dealers a daily supply channel and a wide range of cars which have gone through a thorough diagnostic procedure. The Company is recognised as a reliable reference in terms of pricing on the used car market. Sellers can sell their cars in just about 30 minutes. CarPrice already sold thousands of used cars in less than a year and employs about 200 people. The co-founder and key investor in the project is Oskar Hartmann, also founder of KupiVip.
About Baring Vostok
Baring Vostok is one of the leading private equity firms operating in Russia and the CIS. The Baring Vostok Private Equity Funds have invested over $2.0 billion in more than 63 companies since 1994, and currently have committed capital of $3.7 billion. The Funds’ portfolios were diversified among financial services, oil and gas, consumer products, telecommunications, and media sectors, including СТС Media, Avito, Yandex, Ozon, Gallery Group, Centre of Financial Technologies, ER-Telecom, 1C, Burren Energy, Novomet, Kaspi Bank, Orient Express Bank, Europlan, Karo, EMC and others. Baring Vostok Capital Partners (Guernsey) is the Investment Advisor of the Funds. The sub-advisor of BVCP has a branch office in Moscow with a team of 30 experienced investment professionals. Baring Vostok is a member of Baring Private Equity International, a global private equity group with more than $12 billion of capital under management by affiliates in CIS, Asia, India, Europe and Latin America.
About Almaz Capital
Almaz Capital is an early stage investor in innovative technology companies. Its focus is investing in teams solving a range of problems for both enterprises and small businesses. In addition, the firm invests in consumer-facing businesses including Internet of Things, digital media and sensor technology. Almaz Capital implements a unique bridge model, finding talent and teams in diverse regions and helping them develop into global market leaders. Its portfolio includes market leaders such as Sensity (Internet of Things), Good Data (Business Intelligence), Jelastic (‘Cloudifying’ application development), GridGain (In-Memory Computing), Cinarra (Mobile advertising), and Yandex(Web Search). The fund's investors include Cisco, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group. For more information please visit http://www.almazcapital.com.
Anastasia Shvetsova, CarPrice, https://www.carprice.ru, +7 9261013684, [email protected]
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