Automobile marketplace Droom is raising $200 million in a pre-IPO round at unicorn valuation

• Droom will use this funding to expand its presence in the top 100 cities and international markets.
• The round was led by 57 Stars and Seven Train Ventures.
• The company’s competitors include IPO-bound CarTrade and unicorn startup Cars24.

Online automobile marketplace Droom has got the wheels rolling for its initial public offering (IPO). The company is raising $200 million in a pre-IPO funding round, at a valuation of $1.2 billion.

The company has already received a part of this $200 million funding.

The company is pursuing a dual-track plan for the IPO. The company said it plans to be listed either on US-based NASDAQ or in India in 2022, Droom said in a statement.

This round has also marked Droom’s entry into the unicorn (startups valued at or above $1 billion). It is the second automobile marketplace to do so. Gurugram-based Cars24 had entered the unicorn club last year in November.

The online automobile marketplace space seems to be heating up, as CarTrade is also headed for an IPO in 2021. The company has received Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) approval to raise ₹2000 crore in public issue.

Droom will use this funding to expand its presence in the top 100 cities and international markets as well as enhance its last-mile delivery.

The round was led by new investors 57 Stars and Seven Train Ventures, the company said without sharing any more details. Existing investors also participated in the round. The company’s investors include Beenos, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Beenext, Lightbox, Beenos and others.

“Droom has been on a steady growth trajectory after COVID. While automobile is the largest retail category, it is the least penetrated online. In a post-pandemic world, we expect automobile buying and selling to shift online rapidly,” Sandeep Aggarwal, founder and chief executive of Droom said in a press note.

The company was founded in 2014 by Aggarwal. The company claims that its current annual run-rate is $1.7 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) and $54 million for net revenue.

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