2 days Ago
Gurugram-based Spinny has kicked off its latest financing round with a $52 million funding from existing investors Accel and Nandan Nilekani’s Fundamentum, regulatory filings made with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). This is a part of Spinny’s larger internal round of over $100 million, which is happening at a largely flat valuation, people aware of the discussions said.Of the $52 million – Accel has put in nearly $49 million with the rest coming from Fundamentum.
Spinny had last raised $283 million in December 2021 led by Abu Dhabi-based ADQ, Tiger Global and Avenir Growth – in a round that catapulted it into the unicorn club. The company was valued around $1.8 billion then.
As a part of the larger round, other existing investors including Elevation Capital and General Catalyst are also expected to participate, sources said.This is not only the first big funding round since the go-go period of 2021 for Spinny but also the broader used-car sales and classifieds space that counts players such as SoftBank-backed Cars24 and Peak XV Partners-backed CarDekho Group. Cars24 had raised $329 million in December 2021 led by Alpha Wave Global, while GirnarSoft, the parent company of CarDekho, raised $250 million led by Leapfrog Investments in October 2021.
Additionally, during this prolonged funding winter, used-car sales platforms consolidated their businesses by shuttering loss making verticals, cutting down on headcount while also focusing more on margins. In fiscal 2024, Spinny narrowed its net loss to Rs 590 crore from Rs 820 crore the previous year, as it undertook rationalisation measures in a year that saw dwindling growth for the pre-owned vehicle sales sector. It reported a 14% year-on-year increase in operating revenue to Rs 3,725 crore for FY24.
“Spinny has increased focus on gross margin expansion over the last few years that has led to lower customer acquisition costs, improved tech efficiencies and rationalisation across departments,” a person in the know said.During FY24, Spinny rationalised operations by merging its budget and luxury car offerings, Truebil and Spinny Max, into its main platform – a move that resulted in the company laying off 300 employees. In November, Spinny’s founder and CEO Niraj Singh had told ET that he expected the company’s top line to grow 25-30% in FY25, with ancillary services such as lending, which have so far contributed only to a small part of its revenue, beginning to grow its share to the business.
“Spinny’s latest funding is likely a predecessor of increased activity in this space. Cars24 and CarDekho are also likely to raise soon,” a mobility focused investor told ET.Cars24 has been expanding its offerings having already launched a superapp for car owners, while also foraying into the new-car sales segment.
Meanwhile, CarDekho Group is understood to have been preparing for a potential initial public offering (IPO)..
