Kavak becomes the second most valuable start-up in Latin America.

Mexican used-car platform Kavak said it had raised a $700 million Series E round at a valuation of $ 8.7 billion which more than doubled from its previous funding. The round was led by U.S. venture capital firm General Catalyst, while SoftBank Group Corp, billionaire Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Singapore-based gaming and e-commerce company Sea Ltd, Tiger Global, Spruce House, hedge fund D1, and Ribbit Capital also participated. (Reuters)

Kavak’s used car app allows users to browse, purchase and finance preowned cars at the click of a button on a smartphone.

There appears to be global interest in the prospects of used-car platforms. Last week, the Indian used car platform Cars24 raised $450 million comprising a $340M Series F equity round and $110M of debt.

The capital funding valued the startup, founded in 2015, at $1.84 billion, nearly twice from the end of last year. SoftBank also participated in the funding of Cars24.

Kavak

Kavak previously raised $485 million in a Series D round at a $4 billion valuation. At its current valuation of $ 8.7 billion, Kavak is the second most valuable start-up in Latin America, behind Brazilian fintech Nubank which was last valued at $ 30 billion.

According to TechCrunch, Kavak has doubled its revenue every 3 to 5 months, and over the last 14 months, has grown from 300 to over 5,000 employees in Latin America.

“The company has developed a playbook for providing a transformational customer experience with a compelling and efficient economic model,” said General Catalyst Managing Director Adam Valkin in a statement. “We are excited for Kavak to expand into other emerging markets where a similar opportunity exists to drive financial inclusion and empower the middle class through access to car ownership.”

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