IPO Watch: CARS24 May Go Public in 6–12 Months, CEO Vikram Chopra Reveals

Vikram Chopra, CEO and cofounder of CARS24, stated that the company hopes to go public in the next six to twelve months amid the current startup IPO boom. In order to support its attempt to break into the $200 billion used car industry, Chopra emphasised notable improvements in the startup's financial health. However, he did not disclose the size of the public offering or the valuation that Cars24 would aim for.

Chopra stated in a LinkedIn post that the startup's adjusted net sales increased 18% year over year to INR 651 Cr in the first half (H1) of FY26. The firm was able to reduce its adjusted EBITDA loss by 36% year over year to INR 162 Cr thanks to the growth in the top line. The cofounder stated, "We expect this to accelerate further: H2 FY26 is on track for INR 750 Cr, up 35% YoY."

CARS24 on Acquisition Spree

In an effort to explore new sectors and grow outside the used car marketplace industry, CARS24 has also been on an acquisition binge. By acquiring Team BHP in 2025, it entered the automotive-focused content commerce business. In order to strengthen its partnership after the sale, it later also purchased the car information portal CarInfo. According to the CEO's tweet, the company has grown from a Buy/Sell platform eighteen months ago to an end-to-end vehicle ownership platform with products including insurance, challan payments, CarTruth, Buyback, and Chauferly.

As a result, transactions on its platform increased by 19X, resulting in INR 94 Cr GMV in H1. The company is stepping up its efforts in this high-gross-margin market with the acquisition of CarInfo. The IPO aspirations of the SoftBank-backed business are in line with the Indian startup ecosystem's overall IPO surge. With two cutting-edge digital businesses, Amagi and Shadowfax, filing their RHPs within weeks of entering this year, the trend is high after 18 startup IPOs in 2025.

After its bigger rival, CarTrade, CARS24 hopes to become the second e-commerce platform with an automotive speciality to go public. By acquiring online classified company OLX India (Auto), SaaS platform AutoBiz, and auction platform Shriram Automall, among others, CarTrade has also ventured into uncharted territory. Through acquisitions, it is also actively seeking to strengthen its position in its main market. CarTrade was most recently negotiating with rival CarDekho, which also planned to go public in 2024. However, due to disparities in valuation, the deal never happened.

CARS24’s Financial Outlook

Nearly 85,000 vehicles worth more than INR 3,700 Cr were exchanged in H1 during CARS24. Additionally, its loan disbursements increased by almost 38% year over year to INR 1,600 Cr. Over 1.1 Cr monthly active users were reported by the firm on its platform during that time. In the second half of the year, it anticipates that this pace will continue, facilitating 1.8 lakh car deals in FY26.

With a GMV of INR 3,731 Cr in H1 FY26, the firm asserts that it is the biggest online used automobile transaction participant in India, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. According to the report, in H1 FY26, the UAE market became the first region to produce positive adjusted EBITDA of INR 9 Cr.

Gajendra Jangid, Mehul Agrawal, Ruchit Agarwal, and Chopra established CARS24 in 2015 as a car marketplace for the purchase and sale of used vehicles. With its $200 million Series E round in 2020, it joined the unicorn club and has raised over $1.3 billion to date.