New Money For Used Car Internet Dealer RenRenChe

Gone are the days of trudging to the northern reaches of Beijing to visit the huge automobile malls to buy a used car, as RenRenChe now provides all these services via the Internet.

The Beijing-based online used car marketplace RenRenChe is adding new investors for expanding its second-hand auto service. Prometheus Capital and China Minsheng Investment joined a US$150 million new funding round in the company, according to Chinese media reports.

New investors in the round also included HanFor Holdings and Xinjun Capital, while existing investors Shunwei Capital, Ceyuan Ventures and Redpoint Ventures also participated.

Since being launched in April 2014, RenRenChe has facilitated the transaction of 200,000 used cars cumulatively, while its monthly transaction volume reached 18,000 in July.

In August, RenRenChe established a partnership with Tuanchewang to establish 1,000 offline automobile service centers to users. The company has also cooperated with PingAn Bank and Weizhong Bank to provide auto loans.

Ride share giant Didi Chuxing has expanded into the sector, while Guazi.com Inc., a Chinese online used car trading platform minority owned by 58.com Inc., just closed a US$204.5 million round of financing in March. No clear leader has emerged so far.

Founded in April 2014, RenRenChe received US$5 million series A funding from Redpoint at the time of its establishment. In December that year, it completed a US$20 million series B financing led by Ceyuan Ventures and Shunwei Capital.

In August 2015, Tencent Holdings Ltd. led a US$85 million series C round, which valued the company at US$500 million, with participation from all existing investors.