Online auto marketplace Droom is once again on a fresh fundraising prowl, after barely a month ago it raised $10M in a series F round. Economic Times (ET) report claims that Gurugram based startup is looking to raise $200 million through latest round at more than $1 Bn valuation.
If Droom crosses the $1 bn valuation mark then it will be the first auto e-commerce startup to enter the coveted unicorn club. This eye-popping valuation will come in handy before it files for the upcoming IPO on NASDAQ in 2021. Droom’s founder & CEO Sandeep Aggarwal confirmed to ET that the upcoming round will be most likely the last financing round before 2021 public issue.
Aggarwal also confirmed about hiring investment banking giant Credit Suisse to search for potential investors while stressing that existing investors will also participate in the round. Existing investors like Lightbox, Beenext and clutch of Chinese based investors are reportedly expected to infuse $20-$30 in the impending round.
Shedding lights on company’s balance sheet, Aggarwal said that the startup is aiming to clock net revenue of $120 Mn and GMV of $3.5 billion by the end of December 2021. The company’s current revenue stands at $35 Mn and GMV at $1.3 bn, Aggarwal claimed.
Droom is not the lone auto e-commerce startup that is on the fundraising prowl. According to reports, Cars24 is in the closing stage of concluding a fresh equity funding round that is touted to be around $70-$80 million.
Other well-known startups that are competing in this space are Truebil, Zoomo, CarDekho, Carwale and CarTrade. Each of these startups are pretty well-funded with CarDekho raising $110 Mn at a healthy valuation of $400-500 Mn earlier this year.
Auto e-commerce space is also witnessing strong interest from big automobile manufacturing companies. Japanese auto giants Toyota happens to be one of the key investors in Droom. It spearheaded the $30 million round last year in the Gurugram headquartered company.