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Cars24 Implements Layoffs Amid Strategic Shift

Cars24, a prominent e-commerce platform for pre-owned vehicles, has initiated a downsizing effort, resulting in the layoff of more than 200 employees as a cost-reduction strategy, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation. One anonymous source noted, “Cars24 has laid off around 250 employees this month across its product and technology verticals.”

This decision comes as its principal competitor, Spinny, has recently secured over $100 million in new funding from Accel’s Leadership fund, which is focused on strengthening specific portfolios globally.

Reportedly, the company, backed by SoftBank, has provided those affected by the layoffs with standard severance packages. Cars24’s diverse range of services includes not only the buying and selling of pre-owned cars but also financing, insurance, driver-on-demand, FASTag, challan management, and vehicle scrapping.

CEO Statement on the Layoffs

In a declaration to Startup Superb, Vikram Chopra, co-founder and CEO of Cars24, expressed his thoughts: “This is a tough decision. Over the past few weeks, we’ve had to part ways with around 200 employees across various functions. We are deeply grateful for their contributions. The layoffs are not about performance, but about structure and the bets we placed. We’ve learned that speed without clarity is expensive, and some projects and roles were added prematurely. Moving forward, we need to be more strategic and deliberate with our investments and team-building.”

Funding and Valuation Details

Even though Cars24 has not raised any external funding in the past three and a half years, it secured $450 million in December 2021 from major investors such as SoftBank, Tencent, DST Global, and Falcon Edge’s Alpha Wave. This significant funding round valued the company at an impressive $3.3 billion.

According to various startup data platforms, DST Global holds the largest external share in Cars24, followed closely by KCK Limited, with other notable investors including Peak XV, Alpha Wave, and Tencent.

Financial Performance Overview

The firm has not yet reported its FY25 financial figures. However, in FY24, Cars24 noted a 25% annual increase in revenue, rising from Rs 5,530 crore in FY23 to Rs 6,917 crore. Despite this positive growth, the company recorded a net loss of Rs 498 crore and an adjusted EBITDA loss of Rs 318 crore during the same timeframe.

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