Balderton Capital injects more funds into car buying platform with a £4.6 million investment.

carwow, an online platform for buying new cars in the UK, has raised £4.6 million in a Series-A funding round led by Balderton Capital.

This follows an earlier fundraising round of £1.3 million in February this year, which was also led by Balderton Capital, the backer of successful companies including Betfair, LoveFilm, Nutmeg, The Hut Group and WorldStores.  

carwow enables consumers to compare new cars from multiple dealers, with prices and contact details for dealers all provided. Consumers can then get in touch with their chosen dealer and buy direct without being subjected to undue pressure. 

Once a customer has chosen their desired car, dealers get in touch to offer cars at various prices via the website, but the dealers are not given the customer’s direct contact details. 

carwow CEO James Hind says this latest round will be used to expand the team further, roll out above-the-line advertising campaigns and start exploring new markets.

Rob Moffat of Balderton Capital, who sits on carwow’s board, said: ‘We were happy to be able to increase our investment given the high levels of inbound interest from other VCs.

‘As carwow continues to improve the new car buying experience we believe it will become the default option for buyers.’

carwow was set up in 2013 by Hind, after graduating in finance from the University of Nottingham, together with his co-founders Alexandra Margolis and David Santoro.

The first round of investment was used to expand the team, increase marketing spend and sign more partner deals.

carwow claims to have driven more than £150 million worth of sales for car dealerships and saving users a combined total of £15 million.  

While the website features cars from £10,000 to over £100,000, the average carwow user spends £25,000 and will save, on average, £3,000 off RRP, the company says.