Droom, India’s largest AI-driven online automobile marketplace, has been valued at $1.2 bn in the latest round of funding. The company has closed the first leg of its ongoing pre-IPO growth funding round of up to $200 mn.
In addition to participation by several existing investors, new investors, including 57 Stars and Seven Train Ventures, participated in the first closing of the round in Q2-21.
The company is pursuing a dual track for a possible IPO and aims to be listed either on NASDAQ or in India in 2022.
Droom’s current annual run-rate is $1.7 bn for GMV and $54 mn for Net Revenue. The company remains on track to touch a GMV of $2 bn and a Net Revenue of $65 mn+ in CY2021. With the current scale, technology-oriented business, and operational efficiency, Droom is nearing profitability.
Droom has seen massive digital adoption during the pandemic, besides an increasing preference in consumers for ownership of automobiles versus public transportation or ride-sharing. The company expects online penetration for automobile buying and selling to increase to 7% in 2025, up from 0.7% currently.
Commenting on the milestone, Sandeep Aggarwal, Founder and CEO, Droom, said, “Over the past 7 years, we have invested millions of dollars and thousands of human hours to build a full technology-based end-to-end transactional marketplace for buying and selling of automobiles online. We have developed the complete technology-based machinery starting from first-mile services such as OBV, ECO, and History to mid-mile services like loan & insurance and last-mile services like doorstep delivery. Droom has been on a steady growth trajectory after Covid. While the automobile is the largest retail category, it is the least penetrated online. In a post-pandemic world, we expect automobile buying and selling to shift online rapidly”.
Commenting on the association, Gene Pohren, Managing Director, 57 Stars, said, “Globally, we are seeing automobile buying and selling shifting online, for both ICE and electric vehicles. We think Sandeep and his team have built an impressive digital ecosystem that can revolutionize the automobile buying and selling experience.”