Investment firm Tiger Global Management is likely to invest $100 million in used-car retailing platform Spinny. With this investment, the company’s valuation will double to $800 million.
The talks between Tiger Global and Spinny are at an advanced stage, and the deal is likely to close soon, said sources. Spinny was valued at $350 million in its last funding round in April, in which it raised $65 million from investors like General Catalyst and Think Investments.
Spinny was founded in 2015 by Niraj Singh, Mohit Gupta, and Ramanshu Mahaur as a buyer-focused platform for used cars. Meanwhile, its key competitors like Cars24 and CarDekho have been focused on the sellers’ side until recently. Spinny sources its cars from dealers, individual suppliers, and even CarDekho, reconditions them in its facility, and then sells them.
Spinny reportedly sells cars worth about Rs 100 crore a month, giving it a net monthly revenue of Rs 10-15 crore. The company initially launched its operations in Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune. However, this year it has expanded to Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai, and Kolkata, and plans to expand to five-six more cities by 2021.
Offering contactless dealing in India
Spinny was the first to offer a complete contactless car buying and selling experience via #WithExtraCare – an initiative with home test drives and home delivery. In addition, Spinny 360 is an industry-first feature providing a 360-degree, detailed view of every Spinny Assured vehicle available in each city’s inventory. Sellright by Spinny offers an assurance of the best price, instant online quotes, free doorstep inspection, and instant payment without middlemen for people selling cars.
According to Niraj Singh, as per a survey conducted earlier, barely 4% of people were satisfied with their used-car-buying experience. These revelations spurred Spinny to keep trust, transparency, and simplicity as one of their customers buying experience hallmarks. Its full-stack model means the platform has end-to-end ownership of every step while buying or selling a car for each customer. Beginning with a customer’s first visit to its portal to the test drive and financing options, Spinny manages all processes.
“Our top-of-mind concern as we foray into new cities is to maintain and indeed further the quality of our buying and selling experience. Our emphasis on quality and the extra mile we go as a customer-centric service brand has helped us earn credibility and consumer trust. With the ongoing pandemic, it is evident that every decision needs to be backed by strong safety and social distancing measures, and Spinny sets the industry standard in safety and convenience to create a delightful car buying or selling experience for our customers,” he added.
