Online car marketplace carwow has secured £25m from Mercedes-Benz’ parent company Daimler AG.
The London-based firm, founded in 2013 plans to use the strategic funding round to expand its presence in the UK through new product development and marketing talent.
Its platform allows car buyers to search, compare, and buy new and nearly new cars. It reports that it has now facilitated more than £2bn in car sales to dealerships, a 5 per cent market share, or one in every 20 new retail cars in the UK.
The round is the first that the scale-up has opened up to strategic investors. It has previously taken funding from Balderton Capital, Accel, Vitruvian Partners, all of which have participated in this latest round.
Daimler AG executive Axel Harries will take a seat on the carwow board of directors following the invsestment.
James Hind, founder of carwow, said: “When carwow was founded, there was a view from the industry that there might be some resistance for a model that levelled the playing field for consumers and dealers; having one of the world’s leading car manufacturers investing in the future growth and success of our business is a real proof point that this is a solution that works.
“This demonstrates that the industry perspective is shifting to what we anticipated when we launched, not only that the car purchasing journey was primed to move into the digital era, but that dealers and manufacturers can greatly reap the benefits of more informed and empowered customers.”
Rob Moffat, Partner at Balderton Capital, added: “We are delighted to bring Daimler on board at carwow, alongside further investment from Balderton, Accel and Vitruvian. This investment from one of the leading global car manufacturers demonstrates how strategically important carwow is becoming for online car sales across Europe.”