London: British-based user car startup Cazoo, one of the UK’s fastest-growing tech companies, which makes buying a used car as simple and seamless as buying any other product online, has announced that it has raised a further approx. €263 million of funding. This latest round takes the total funding in the two years since Cazoo was founded to around €494 million, as it continues to transform the way people buy used cars in the UK.
Cazoo was founded by Alex Chesterman, whose previous ventures include both Zoopla and LoveFilm. Cazoo’s latest backers are some of the world’s most respected investors led by General Catalyst, D1 Capital Partners, and funds managed by Fidelity Management & Research Company and Blackrock alongside other new and existing investors including L Catterton, Durable Capital Partners, The Spruce House Partnership, Novator, Mubadala Capital, and dmg ventures, amongst others.
Launched last year, Cazoo is pioneering the shift to online car buying in the UK and is now selling and delivering thousands of cars a month to customers all around the country. Consumers have rapidly embraced the transparency and convenience of buying used cars entirely online and Cazoo has already achieved revenues of around €110 million since its launch less than a year ago.
Cazoo owns and fully reconditions all its cars before offering them for sale exclusively on its website. It lists thousands of cars in stock at any time, all stored centrally in the Midlands and available for either home delivery anywhere in the UK or collection from one of its Cazoo Customer Centres in as little as 72 hours. Every Cazoo car comes with full 7-day money back guarantee and a comprehensive 90-day warranty.
Alex Chesterman OBE, founder and CEO of Cazoo said, “Over the past few months we have seen an acceleration in the shift from offline to online car buying as UK consumers have continued to embrace our unique and market-leading proposition. This latest funding demonstrates the conviction of some of the world’s best investors in both our business model and team as well as the UK market and gives Cazoo the firepower to deliver on our plans to provide the best possible car buying experience for UK consumers.”
Adam Valkin, Managing Director of General Catalyst said, “I have known Alex for seventeen years since our days building LoveFilm. He has made a career out of identifying large consumer markets where technology can drive change and then leading that transformation by focusing on the customer and delivering value, convenience and a trusted service. With Cazoo, Alex is taking his proven playbook to perhaps his largest opportunity yet for the benefit of used car buyers across the UK.”
Dan Sundheim, Founder of D1 Capital said, “We’re excited to partner with Alex and the team at Cazoo. They have generated enormous value for customers and shareholders in their previous internet ventures and we are confident that Cazoo will greatly accelerate the digital transformation of the used car industry and dramatically improve the car buying experience for consumers in the UK.”
This year has been one of successes for Cazoo: earlier this year Cazoo became the UK’s fastest ever unicorn, its valuation has more than doubled since its last funding round, and this latest fundraising was significantly over-subscribed.
