Before having even launched, Cazoo, a new platform to transform the way used cars are bought, has raised a further €27.7 million, bringing its total pre-launch funding to more than €60 million.
The UK-based startup’s mission is to make buying a used car no different to buying any other product online – allowing consumers to select from thousands of cars online and have them delivered to their door in as little as 48 hours. Founded just nine months ago, Cazoo has grown to over 100 employees and signed multiple strategic partnerships covering vehicle purchasing, financing, and logistics. The startup will officially launch later this year.
This latest funding round was led by existing investors including dmg ventures (the venture arm of DMGT plc), Stride.VC, Octopus Ventures and Entrée Capital with the new funds to be used to further grow the team and invest in marketing and operations.
Cazoo was founded by Alex Chesterman OBE, who previously founded LoveFilm (which sold to Amazon for £200 million in 2010) and the property market with Zoopla (sold for over £2.2 billion last year). Now, he has set his sights on the UK used car market which is worth over £50 billion per annum, with 8 million used cars sold annually.
“We are delighted to have closed this further funding round, giving us significant firepower to fuel our growth after we launch later this year,” said Alex Chesterman, founder & CEO of Cazoo. “We are assembling a world-class team and looking forward to transforming the used car market by delivering UK consumers the best car buying experience in terms of selection, value, quality and convenience.”
“We are really impressed with the progress that Cazoo has made in such a short period of time,” said Lord Rothermere, Chairman of DMGT. “Alex’s passion for using technology to improve consumer experiences and his ability to execute are second to none. We are delighted to be backing Cazoo to deliver a wholly new and better approach to buying a used car and to disrupting this £50 billion market.”
“Buying a used car is a poor consumer experience and Cazoo is reimagining it from the ground up to be delightful,” said Fred Destin, Partner at Stride.VC. “We’re excited to be doubling down on our support for Alex and the exceptional team he has assembled as they build a transformational consumer brand and deliver the best experience for used car buyers across the UK.”
