10:50 am, September 2, 2019
NEW-TECH automotive start-up Cazoo has raised a further £25m in pre-launch funding.
It now has more than £55m ahead of its planned launch later this year, making it one of Europe’s best-funded start-ups. The latest funding round was led by existing investors, including Stride.VC, Octopus Ventures, Entrée Capital and DMG Ventures, which is the venture arm of DMGT, with the new funds to be used to increase the number of staff and invest in marketing and operations.
Founded just nine months ago by Alex Chesterman, Cazoo currently has more than 100 employees and has signed multiple strategic partnerships covering vehicle purchasing, financing and logistics. The business says it aims to make buying a used car no different to buying any other product online today, by letting consumers select from thousands of cars online and have them delivered to their door in as little as 48 hours.
Chesterman, pictured, is one of the UK’s most successful digital entrepreneurs, having already transformed the film rental market with LoveFilm, which was sold to Amazon for £200m in 2010, and the property market with Zoopla, which was sold for more than £2.2bn last year.
‘We are delighted to have closed this further funding round, giving us significant firepower to fuel our growth after we launch later this year,’ he said. ‘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.’
Lord Rothermere, chairman of DMGT, said: ‘We are really impressed with the progress that Cazoo has made in such a short period of time. 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 £50bn market.’
Fred Destin, partner at Stride.VC, added: ‘Buying a used car is a poor consumer experience and Cazoo is reimagining it from the ground up to be delightful. 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.’
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