CarDekho Breaks the 150 Million Barrier
JAIPUR, India, May 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
More Than Doubles Sessions on the Portal With 152 Million
Girnar Software Pvt Ltd, parent company of CarDekho.com, has released its performance numbers for the fiscal year 2014-15. As per this data, GirnarSoft auto portals clocked a record 152 million visits in the year, a growth of 50% versus prior year, further consolidating its position as the number one in auto classifieds and research companies in the country.
Through the year, 74 million unique users searched for cars and information online using CarDekho.com. More than 1 million users downloaded the mobile app within 8 months of the launch of CarDekho app on Android and iOS platforms.
GirnarSoft Traffic At a Glance 2014-2015 % Increase vs prior year
Total Visits 152 Mn 119%
Unique Visitors 74 Mn 100%
Total App Downloads 1.1 Mn
Total visits from Mobile 79.5 Mn 244%
New & Used Car Leads 13.5 Mn 75%
User Registrations in year 3.1 Mn 126%
Mobile and marketing led the way
CarDekho.com dramatically improved its user interface with a revamped website and WAP site. Coupled with this was the highly successful launch of the mobile app on android and iOS, that touched a million downloads within months. Company management says that mobile has been a huge success story and CarDekho was able to fully reap the mobile opportunity despite being late to the app market versus competing portals. As reported, mobile sessions have grown by 3 times from the previous year. The app is expected to reach 2 million downloads in the next quarter. Also, the number of leads generated from mobile including WAP and App has seen a 235% increase from last year.
The year 2014 also saw successful launch of marketing campaigns with the theme "Suno nahi, Dekho". The campaign propelled daily sessions to two times its normal level. This came on the back of impactful TV advertising and sponsorship of the biggest entertainment property Bigg Boss, leaving competing portals gasping for air. Currently, CarDekho is continuing its aggressive TV campaign as associate sponsors on the IPL broadcast.
On social media, CarDekho and Gaadi together have over 1.1 million fans on Facebook, which is up by more than 50% over last year.
New funding keeping CarDekho ahead
Girnar Software as a company is valued at close to 2,000 crores, up from 250 crores barely a year ago. This follows a successful round of Series B fund raising of 50 million dollars led by Hillhouse Capital & Tybourne Capital Management with participation from Sequoia Capital. A new feather in the cap for CarDekho was when Mr. Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, came on board as an investor and advisor to the company.
Girnar Software acquired Gaadi.com last year to create synergies between its new car and used car businesses. Amit Jain, CEO and Co-founder has indicated that the new round of funding will be utilised to create a mega brand via marketing and to acquire smaller companies with technologies and capabilities that enhance its leadership. With strategic tie ups with eight OEM manufacturers, more than 2500 used car dealers, 1800 new car dealers and a host of leading financial institutions, CarDekho looks poised to dominate the auto classified and services category.
Adding business partners everyday with new offerings
The company has identified used cars as a high potential area and has been focussing its energies on rapidly increasing used car listings. The total number of dealers listed on site has grown by 45% over the past one year, which is the largest organised group of used car dealers working with a single platform. New dealers are being added at a frenetic pace; CarDekho has gone from 565 used car dealers in Aug 2014 to more than 2500 currently, and this number is expected to double by the end of 2015-16 fiscal year.
CarDekho has close to 80,000 used cars listed for sale on its portal, and unlike the outdated listings on some other portals, 100% of these are verified for genuineness. With 2500 cars being added to the portal on a daily basis, the company also has the largest number of individuals' used car listings from amongst the auto classifieds sites.
Last quarter, CarDekho launched Trustmark , its best-in-class certification and warranty product for used cars. Early reports show that more than 1200 dealers have already tied up with CarDekho and the portal boasts of close to 4000 certified used cars under the TrustMark umbrella, the largest number of certified used cars amongst all portals.
Darling of the workforce
With so much action in the segment, Girnar Software has become the darling of the workforce in Jaipur with people vying to enter the company and work in a rapid growth environment. The company reports that it has already crossed 1200 employees and is looking to double this number in the coming fiscal year. The company has assembled an enviable team of top management to lead the business with people joining in from various walks of life.
Function Mix
Product & Technology 200+
Mobile Focussed 50+
Sellers 400+
Auto Journalists 20+
People Mix
IIT Graduates 60+
IIM/ISB/INSEAD Graduates 20+
Ex-Entrepreneurs 30+
Auto Fanatics 1500+
With such ambitious plans and an agile follow through, the group company is set to be valued at nothing less than 3 billion dollars before 2020.
Commenting on this, Amit Jain, CEO and Co-founder, GirnarSoft said, "Things inside the company are moving at a frantic pace. New products are being rolled out every month and we are very excited. We are soon to launch an inspection service for any individual planning to buy a used car anywhere in the country. Our aim is to build the market for sale of safe and trusted used cars, and we are making every effort in that direction through our inspection, certification and warranty products. Even the new car business is thriving. We are actively contributing to 15% of national sales of the top eight auto OEMs in India."
Media Contact
Charu Kishnani,
[email protected],
+91-9001599555,
VP - Digital Marketing,
Girnar Software Pvt Ltd
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