New Delhi: Ratan Tata has invested in his personal capacity in auto classifieds portal CarDekho.com.
The chairman emeritus of the $100 billion Tata conglomerate has for the first time ever joined hands with an auto portal by investing in a personal capacity, CarDekho.com said in a statement.
It is Tata's fourth such investment in an e-commerce firm. Last year, the business leader had invested in marketplace major Snapdeal, furniture e-tailer Urban Ladder and online jewellery seller BlueStone.
CarDekho, now valued at $300 million, recently received $50 million in a fresh financing round led by China's Hillhouse Capital, which manages $14 billion in assets, Tybourne Capital and its existing investor venture fund Sequoia Capital. The combined entity of CarDekho and Gaadi.com, which the Jaipur firm acquired last year from the Ibibo Group, competes with the likes of Cartrade.com and Carwale.com, besides the general online classifieds services like Quikr and Olx.
CarDekho however did not disclose the amount of investment. Amit Jain, CEO and co-founder of GirnarSoft the company that owns CarDekho, told NDTV that Mr Tata's will hold a minority stake in the company.
Tata, an auto enthusiast, has agreed to advise the company as and when required, CarDekho said. Tata has investment in many e-commerce companies in his personal capacity, including Snapdeal and Urban Ladder.
The idea of the flagship CarDekho was kicked off by brothers Amit (38) and Anurag Jain (36), both IIT-Delhi alumni, after their visit to the Delhi Auto Expo in 2008. A year earlier, they had founded an IT outsourcing firm GirnarSoftware, providing a launch pad for innovations in the consumer internet space based out of Jaipur.
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