UK’s online car marketplace Carwow raises €47.7M from Bessemer Venture Partners, Accel, others

London-based Carwow Group, which operates the Carwow online marketplace as well as Auto Express, evo, Driving Electric, and Carbuyer, announced that it has raised $52M (approximately €47.77M) in a fresh round of funding. 

The funds will support Carwow’s growth in the UK, Germany and Spain. 

The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, a global venture capital firm with a diverse portfolio that includes LinkedIn and Shopify. Existing investors such as Accel, Balderton, Episode 1, and Vitruvian also participated in the round.

Alex Ferrara, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, says, “I’ve been a fan of Carwow’s videos and content for years and like millions of others, I love their information-rich, impartial car reviews and drag races that make for fun and irreverent entertainment.”

“Carwow’s consumer proposition is just as exciting, which is helping make car changing simpler for consumers across Europe – and with over 9 million car changes a year alone in the UK, we’re looking forward to supporting the Management team in growing the business and delivering on its true potential.” 

“Carwow’s focus on using its content expertise and footprint to drive its commerce services through dealer partnerships makes it unique and compelling in the category,” adds Ferrara.

Capital utilisation

The investment, advised by Arma Partners, will accelerate Carwow’s strategic growth plans, including scaling and expanding the “Sell My Car” (SMC) service in the UK to attract more customers and source more cars for dealer partners.

The focus will also be on enhancing payment processes and developing its transport offering. Additionally, Carwow plans to introduce the SMC service to its German operation in 2025.

The company claims to have witnessed “stellar growth” in H1, with a 56 per cent increase in revenue as more consumers move online to change their cars. In the next few months, it will expand its product and engineering teams to support this next phase of growth.

John Veichmanis, CEO of the Carwow Group, says, “This is yet another milestone moment for Carwow. Over the course of the last three years, we’ve worked tirelessly to develop our car-changing proposition in the UK, giving consumers access to thousands of partners that can help them buy a new car and sell their old one.”

“Our customers love the breadth of choice and convenience of managing every step of their car-changing journey online and partners rely on us to help drive sales of new cars and source stock. Given the phenomenal reaction to our strategic blueprint in the UK, we’re excited to use this new funding to take our proposition to our existing businesses in Germany and Spain.”

“We’ll also continue to invest in new technologies to help our partners seamlessly appraise, buy and collect cars directly from the millions that use Carwow every month,” adds Veichmanis.

An online platform for buying a new car or selling an old one

Founded in 2013, Carwow aims to create the ultimate online car buying and selling experience. It helps users find new car deals, compare offers, and buy directly from trusted dealers.

In 2021, Carwow launched its “sell your car” feature after acquiring Wizzle, allowing users to compare offers from dealers for their old cars.

Originally a car review aggregator, Carwow has grown into a name in car media with a popular automotive YouTube channel, boasting over 9.4 million subscribers. Its online content includes unbiased reviews, car-buying news, advice, and interactive tools.

Carwow supports the car industry with data-driven tools and services, such as lead generation, stock sourcing, brand building, e-commerce training, marketing, and advertising. 

Since its inception, over 10 million customers have used Carwow to buy and sell cars. Last year, nearly £3B worth of cars were bought through the platform, and £1.8B worth of cars were listed for sale through its SMC service.