CheHaoDuo Group announced that it has completed USD 1.5 billion Series D round of funding led by Softbank Vision Fund. The post-money valuation of the company reached USD 9 billion.
The office of Guazi.com, the brand under Chehaoduo. PHOTO: Credit to Chehaoduo
Feb 28,2019/EqualOcean/- CheHaoDuo Group (车好多), one of the largest Chinese used car trading platforms, announced that the group has completed USD 1.5 billion Series D round of funding led by Softbank Vision Fund. The post-money valuation of the company reached USD 9 billion.
CheHaoDuo says the group will invest in R&D to enhance core innovation productivity and dominate the market landscape. The investment will also be used to improve marketing and open more brick-and-mortar stores. As for new service, the group aims at covering the whole life cycle of auto selling, building operation ecosystem, and improving user experience to increase revenues.
Founded in 2012, Guazi.com (瓜子), the developer of Chinese customer-to-customer (C2C) used car trading platform, has renamed itself CheHaoDuo Group in 2017 and announced its USD 600 million series B round of funding. CheHaoDuo has completed USD 3 billion investment in total so far.
The group launched its wholly-owned subsidiary Maodou (毛豆) meanwhile, a new car business based on financial leasing, and adopted a dual brand strategy. The group has four divisions: second-hand car trading platform Guazi.com, new retail car-selling brand Maodou, second-hand car bidding customer-to-business (C2B) platform CheSuPai (车速拍), and automobile aftermarket service GuaZiYangChe (瓜子养车).
The group started a new retail innovation strategy in 2018 and has launched more than 600 stores to provide second-hand car selling, new car selling, and car services. Feb 26, the group moved its headquarter into Innospace in Chaoyang District, Beijing, and opened a selected second-hand car direct-selling store there.
YANG Haoyong (杨浩涌) claimed that global auto market is enduring an innovation trend, which brings huge chance. The application of big data and AI will be the core competence for China’s auto industry.
CHEN Xun (陈恂), the partner of Vision Fund, indicated that China’s used car market is booming while internet penetration is relatively low, and auto finance has a huge potential to grow compared to the mature market.
We've reported that high valuations of Vision Fund investments—and the decision-making role of SoftBank chief Masayoshi Son—have led to concerns on the bank and fund, reported by Wall Street Journal. CheHaoDuo was under suspicion as well. Mr. Son overruled objections from partners towards the CheDaoDuo deal which will value the company at a staggering USD 8.5 billion.
DiDi-affiliated RenRenChe(人人车), the rival of CheHaoDuo, released its 2019 plan last week as well. RenRenChe set to launch a CNY 80 million (USD 11.8 million) specialized investment fund to enhance its guaranteed sales service and open new retail stores to provide used car trading, evaluation and inspection, pricing, auto finance, insurance, and warranty services for its partnerships.