Buying a used car is more complicated than a new car as you need to consider a lot of factors, before making the final purchase. You will have to take into account details of the previous owner of the vehicle, used car broker and pre-owned dealer. And, there might not be the assurance that the used car you intend to buy is of high-quality.
One company that aims to transform the way people purchase used cars is UK-based Cazoo. This UK startup intends to provide better selection, convenience, transparency, and peace of mind for car buyers. Cazoo claims to make purchasing a used car as simple as buying a book online. The London-based used car platform, lets you buy the vehicle completely online and get it delivered to your doorstep in just 48 hours.
Raises €27.5M pre-launch funding
Now in a new set of news, Cazoo has just announced that it has secured £25 million (nearly €27.5 million) pre-launch funding. This takes the overall funding raised by the used car startup to over £55 million (nearly €60.5 million) ahead of its launch later this year.
The latest funding round was led by the company’s existing investors dmg ventures (the venture arm of DMGT plc), Stride.VC, Octopus Ventures, and Entrée Capital. Cazoo intends to use the new fund to grow its team and invest in operations and marketing.
Eyes the UK used car market on fire
Cazoo is the third startup founded by Alex Chesterman OBE, one of the most successful digital entrepreneurs in the UK. Previously, he transformed the film rental market with LoveFilm in 2010 (acquired by Amazon for £200 million) and the property market with Zoopla (sold for over £2.2 billion in 2018). Now, Chesterman eyes to set the used car market in the UK on fire with Cazoo.
Highly talented team!
Besides Chesterman, the Founder and CEO, Cazoo has a team of a highly experienced and impressive senior team comprising the former Chief Financial Officer of PaddyPowerBetfair, former Chief Commercial Officer from ZPG, former Chief Technology Officer of Made.com, and former Chief Customer Officer from MoneySuperMarket.
Alex Chesterman, Founder & CEO of Cazoo said, “We are delighted to have closed this further funding round, giving us significant firepower to fuel our growth after we launch later this year. 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.”
Notably, the used car market in the UK is worth £50 billion with over 8 million used cars sold per year.
Further, Cazoo has been steadily building its team in the last few months, attracting new hires from across the industry, including Auto Trader, Tesla and Manheim.
Now the business is preparing to move into a new headquarters after signing a five-year lease to sublet the warehouse-style building located on Chalton Street in Euston, London NW1 from The Boutique Workplace Company.
The new building, called The Connolly Works, is located directly between Euston and Kings Cross stations and Cazoo said that the facility will provide “much-needed additional space” as it continues to expand its team which has already grown to over 100 people in six months.
The business is expected to move into its new HQ by the end of this year.
Stay tuned to Silicon Canals for more European technology news.
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