INTERVIEW: The CEO of the biggest startup in the used car e-tail explains why he is skipping the 2021 IPO frenzy

Kritti BhallaNov 17, 2021, 18:57 IST

Cars24/BI India

Cars24 has confirmed that it will be looking to hit the public market in the next 18-24 months.
The company recently raised $450 million, which will be used for international as well as indian expansion.
The CEO believes that rising inflation, particularly in the cost of making a car, may drive demand for used cars sold online.
Check out the latest automobile news and analysis on Business Insider.

While CarTrade.com has already become a listed stock in August 2021, Droom’s founder Sandeep Aggarwal has filed the necessary paperwork for the initial public offering (IPO).

In a year that has seen an IPO craze like never before ⁠— 69 companies have completed their first share sale and listed in 2021 so far — startup unicorns (valued over a billion dollars) Cars24 and CarsDekho seem to be in no rush to tap into the frenzy.

In a conversation with Business Insider Cars24’s chief executive officer (CEO) Kunal Mundra said that the IPO may take anywhere between 18 and 24 months.

Mundra of Cars24 — which is valued at $1.85 billion, the highest among all automobile ecommerce players — shares his thoughts on why he is willing to wait and a lot more about the company’s plans going forward.

These are the edited excerpts from the interview:

Interviewer: Now that you've converted yourself into a public entity, right, and what are your plans ahead?

Cars24

Interviewer: But you have converted yourself as a public limited company, a step companies take before hitting the public market. Do you plan to list in the next 6 months?

Cars24

Interviewer: But you have converted yourself as a public limited company, a step companies take before hitting the public market. Do you plan to list in the next 6 months?

Interviewer: Has the increase in fuel prices or inflation affected your platform in any way?

Canva

Interviewer: That will create an imbalance for you, right? There are a lot of people willing to sell their cars on your platform but not a lot of them are willing to buy.

Image by Florian Pircher from Pixabay

Interviewer: That will create an imbalance for you, right? There are a lot of people willing to sell their cars on your platform but not a lot of them are willing to buy.

Interviewer: So apart from that you recently raised $450 million. How are you planning to allocate those funds?

Cars24

Interviewer: And specific reason why you have chosen these markets?

Cars24

Interviewer: You are the highest valued automobile ecommerce player in India at the moment. What are those unique factors that give you that upper hand over all the other platforms?

Cars24

Interviewer: You are the highest valued automobile ecommerce player in India at the moment. What are those unique factors that give you that upper hand over all the other platforms?

Interviewer: There are other players like CarTrade, Droom that have their own financing solution.

BI India

Interviewer: Can you elaborate more on these refurbishment labs?

Canva

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INTERVIEW: The CEO of the biggest startup in the used car e-tail explains why he is skipping the 2021 IPO frenzy

Interviewer: Now that you've converted yourself into a public entity, right, and what are your plans ahead?

Interviewer: But you have converted yourself as a public limited company, a step companies take before hitting the public market. Do you plan to list in the next 6 months?

Interviewer: Has the increase in fuel prices or inflation affected your platform in any way?

Interviewer: That will create an imbalance for you, right? There are a lot of people willing to sell their cars on your platform but not a lot of them are willing to buy.

Interviewer: So apart from that you recently raised $450 million. How are you planning to allocate those funds?

Interviewer: And specific reason why you have chosen these markets?

Interviewer: You are the highest valued automobile ecommerce player in India at the moment. What are those unique factors that give you that upper hand over all the other platforms?

Interviewer: There are other players like CarTrade, Droom that have their own financing solution.

Interviewer: Can you elaborate more on these refurbishment labs?