Tuesday, August 30, 2011


MOTOREXCHANGE RECEIVES SERIES C FUNDING FROM TIGER GLOBAL AND CANAAN PARTNERS

INDIA, Mumbai, August 30, 2011: MotorExchange, India's leading used vehicle online marketplace, closed its $13million Series C funding, led by Tiger Global Management, with participation from existing investor Canaan Partners.

MotorExchange had previously raised Series A round of funding in December 2009 from Canaan Partners and other investors including Austin Ligon, Founder CEO of CarMax USA and a Series B round in December 2010 from Canaan Partners again and Epiphany Ventures.

While commenting on the deal, Lee Fixel, Managing Director, Tiger Global Management said "We have been impressed with the traction achieved by Vinay and his team. MotorExchange presents a unique opportunity to improve transparency, convenience, and choice to new and used car customers throughout India.”
This was further backed by Alok Mittal, Managing Director, Canaan India, who have invested in MotorExchange for the third time, said “We are excited to have Tiger Global partner with us in MotorExchange. MotorExchange represents a powerful platform that aims to reduce friction in used vehicles marketplace, both for consumers and businesses”

MotorExchange, launched in December of 2009, is an online platform for transacting used vehicles. It enables businesses (financial institutions and fleet owners) and consumers to sell their pre-owned vehicles. It provides Sellers the most efficient price, defined timelines and complete transparency. Buyers on the platform are used auto dealers (including dealers of cars, trucks and two wheelers) who gain access to a large pool of vehicles. It is a unique combination of B2B and C2B business models. The company also owns CarTradeIndia.com, a leading auto classifieds site.

MotorExchange is promoted by former Mahindra First Choice CEO Vinay Sanghi. Rajan Mehra, ex-eBay India head is also a founder-director. The company boasts a stellar Management team with extensive auto and internet experience.

Vinay Sanghi, CEO and Director, MotorExchange, said “We’re looking forward to working with Tiger Global and are confident in the value that they bring to the table. We are also delighted that Canaan Partners has participated once again in this round of investment. This latest investment will enable us to expand our Consumer businesses. Our goal will be to establish a platform which will bring scale, transparency and convenience to the used vehicle industry”

About MotorExchange

MotorExchange is India's largest used vehicle online marketplace providing sellers and buyers a structured platform for transacting used vehicles. It brings together qualified sellers and buyers of used vehicles. Sellers include banks, insurance and leasing companies, corporate, automotive dealerships and consumers. Buyers are used vehicles dealers located throughout India. This is enabled by an accurate certification process and world class technology. The marketplace provides customers with speed, transparency, convenience and scale. The Company also owns CarTradeIndia.com, one of India’s leading auto classifieds and content websites.

MotorExchange is promoted by Vinay Sanghi, the former CEO of Mahindra First Choice. Rajan Mehra, Managing Director at Nirvana Venture Advisors and former country head of eBay India is a founder-director in the company. 

About Tiger Global

Tiger Global Management, LLC is an investment firm that deploys capital globally through its private investment funds and hedge fund vehicles. The Firm’s private investment funds invest opportunistically in growth-oriented private companies around the world with a particular focus on the Internet and technology sectors. The firm’s fundamentally-oriented hedge funds invest primarily in public equities with an emphasis on the global technology, telecom, media and consumer sectors. Tiger Global Management, LLC was founded in 2001 and is based in New York with an affiliate office in Beijing, China.

About Canaan Partners

Canaan Partners is a global venture capital firm that invests in people to turn visionary ideas into valuable and significant technology & healthcare companies. For over 20 years, we have backed entrepreneurs by giving them the transformational opportunities, luminary insights and operational guidance it requires to build high-performance companies.

In India, Canaan Partners’ focus areas include consumer internet, mobile VAS and enterprise & managed services. Canaan’s investments in India include MotorExchange.com, a used car exchange model, mCarbon, a hotbed for VAS innovation, Chakpak.com from the online entertainment space, UnitedLex from the LPO space, iYogi - a direct-to-consumer and small business remote tech support provider, BharatMatrimony.com - India’s most trusted matrimonial portal and Cellcast Asia Holdings from the mobile VAS space.

Globally, Canaan Partners has been the early investor in some of the world’s leading technology companies, including Acme Packet, CommerceOne, DoubleClick and Match.com as well as healthcare giants Cerexa, Dexcom, Northstar Neuroscience and Peninsula Pharmaceuticals.

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