About Carwow
Carwow is a Transportation, Automotive & Logistics company based in London (United Kingdom) founded in 2010 by Alexandra Margolis. Online marketplace to buy new cars. Carwow has raised $178.4 million across 11 funding rounds from investors including Volvo Cars, Mercedes-Benz and Bessemer Venture Partners. Carwow has completed 3 acquisitions, including Autovia, GRIDSERVE and Wizzle. Carwow was last valued at $216 million in August 2019. Its website carwow.co.uk draws about 7.6 million monthly visits. Carwow offers products and services including Car Buying Platform, Leasing Service, Car Selling Service, and Car Reviews. Its focus areas include Consumer, Auto E-Commerce & Content, Second Hand Vehicles and Cars. Its legal entity is CARWOW LTD. Its competitors include Cazoo and Auto Trader; 1 of its 2 listed competitors has raised funding.
Company details
Carwow was founded in 2010 in London, United Kingdom, as an online marketplace within the automotive sector. Buyers are enabled to search vehicles by make, model, and features, after which personalized offers are received from registered dealers. Comparisons are facilitated based on pricing, dealer locations, review ratings, and current stock availability, streamlining direct purchases.
- Total Equity Funding$178.4M (USD)
in 11 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$53.25M (USD), Series E
Jul 2024
- InvestorsVolvo Cars
& 11 more
- Investments & AcquisitionsAutovia
& 2 more
Products & Services of Carwow
Carwow offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including Car Buying Platform, Leasing Service, Car Selling Service, and Car Reviews.
Online tool for comparing and purchasing new and used cars
Platform for arranging car leases and deals
Service for listing and selling vehicles online
Resource for reading and comparing car reviews
Apps and channels of Carwow
its YouTube channel carwow has 258K subscribers and 30 videos.
Videos from Carwow
The most watched videos on Carwow's YouTube channel, carwow (258K subscribers). Click a video to play it here.
More on carwow.
Funding Insights of Carwow
Carwow has successfully raised a total of $178.4M across 11 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series E round of $53.25 million completed in July 2024. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $178.4M
- Total Rounds 11
- Last Round Series E — $53.25M
- First Round $2.15M
(Feb 2014)
- Investors Count 12
Latest 10 of 11 funding rounds of Carwow with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2024 | $53.25M | Series E | – | Bessemer Venture Partners | |
| Nov 2023 | $3.31M | Series C | – | – | – |
| Apr 2022 | Series C | – | – | ||
| Mar 2022 | $22.6M | Series C | – | ITV | |
| Dec 2021 | $55M | Debt – Venture | – | – | |
| Sep 2019 | $2.47M | Series C | – | – | – |
| Aug 2019 | $30.39M | Series C | $216M | Mercedes-Benz | |
| Jul 2017 | $39M | Series C | $161.3M | Vitruvian Partners | |
| Jan 2016 | $18.1M | Series B | $••••• | Accel | |
| Dec 2014 | $7.13M | Series A | $••••• | – |
| Date | Valuation | Stage |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 2019 | $216M | •••••••• |
| Jul 2017 | $161.3M | •••••••• |
| Jan 2016 | $••••• | •••••••• |
| Dec 2014 | $••••• | •••••••• |
| Feb 2014 | $••••• | •••••••• |
Full valuation and stage history of Carwow
Every valuation point, the growth-stage changes (minicorn, soonicorn, unicorn) and the dates behind them require an active premium plan.
- All valuation points
- Stage changes
- Dates
- Exports
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Last known valuation $216M (Aug 2019). 12 investors in total: 12 institutional.
Investors in Carwow
Carwow has secured backing from 12 investors, including venture fund and institutional investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Volvo Cars, Mercedes-Benz and Bessemer Venture Partners.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Venture capital investments and support for entrepreneurs in technology and innovation sectors. | 1911 | bvp.com | Redwood City, United States | |
Accel is recognized as a leading venture capital firm. | 1983 | accel.com | Palo Alto, United States | |
Multistage venture capital investments are focused on technology sectors. | 2000 | balderton.com | London, United Kingdom | |
Seed & early-stage tech-focused venture capital firm | episode1.com | London, United Kingdom | ||
Growth equity investments are directed toward expanding startups across sectors. | vitruvianpartners.com | London, United Kingdom | ||
Venture debt financing is provided to companies in multiple sectors. | 2003 | htgc.com | Palo Alto, United States | |
Private equity investments are directed across multiple sectors. | channel4ventures.com | London, United Kingdom | ||
Seed-stage tech-focused VC firm investing primarily in the UK | samos.vc | London, United Kingdom | ||
Automobiles and related products are manufactured by Volvo Cars. | 1927 | volvocars.com | Gothenburg, Sweden | |
High-quality television content is produced, broadcasted, and streamed globally. | 1954 | itvplc.com | London, United Kingdom |
Investor details for Carwow
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
- Complete investor list
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- Investor portfolios
- Co-investor network
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
People of Carwow
140 people are tracked at Carwow (47 in leadership, 3 in board & advisors, 90 in team).
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Alexandra Margolis | Co-Founder | Leadership |
Thomas Studd | Leadership | |
Dr. Gareth Menton | Head Of Product - Retail Media | Leadership |
Giorgia Palmer | Head Of Strategic Growth | Leadership |
Matthew Shields | Head Of Group Strategy & Corporate Development | Leadership |
Sarah Connolly | Partnership Account Director | Leadership |
Becky James | Head Of People | Leadership |
Alastair White | Commercial Director | Leadership |
Sarah Perks | Director Content & Publishing | Leadership |
James Bottomley | Partnership Account Director Team Lead - Northern England | Leadership |
Henning Henke | Head, OEM & Media Germany | Leadership |
Joanna Childs | Head Of Brand | Leadership |
Philipp Sayler von Amende | CEO, Germany | Leadership |
Alice Flaye | Chief Business & Operations Officer | Leadership |
Victoria Tagg | Head Of Organic Growth | Leadership |
Chris Healy | Head Of Commercial | Leadership |
Jack Scotton | Head Of Video | Leadership |
Sepi Arani | Global Managing Director - Media & Commercial | Leadership |
Chris Chambers | Partnership Account Director Lead | Leadership |
Mat Watson | Chief Content Officer | Leadership |
120 more people are available in the full profile.
Complete people profiles for Carwow
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
- Full employee list
- Team structure
- Board tenure
- Professional contacts
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Investments & Acquisitions by Carwow
Carwow has strategically engaged in corporate development activities, having acquired 3 companies. Notable acquisitions include Autovia, GRIDSERVE and Wizzle.
| Company Name | Description | Domain | Location | Founded | Acquired | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Developer of solar energy projects | gridserve.com | Iver, United Kingdom | 2016 | Oct 2024 | •••• | |
Automotive content is provided by Autovia for driving enthusiasts. | autovia.co.uk | London, United Kingdom | 2021 | Feb 2024 | •••• | |
Cars are sold to dealerships via an online C2B platform. | wizzle.co.uk | Christchurch, United Kingdom | 2013 | Jun 2021 | •••• |
Complete acquisition details for Carwow
Acquired stakes, deal sources and the complete acquisition history require an active premium plan.
- Acquired stakes
- Deal sources
- Complete history
- Exports
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Timeline of Carwow
7 dated milestones of Carwow across 14 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
Competitors of Carwow
Carwow has 2 listed competitors in our database, 1 of them funded. They include Cazoo and Auto Trader.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cazoo.co.uk | 2018 | London, United Kingdom | $563.16M | 126 | Online dealer of second-hand cars | |
| autotrader.co.uk | 1977 | Manchester, United Kingdom | 790 | Used cars are listed and searched via an online platform. |
Detailed competitors of Carwow
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
- Operating metrics
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Web traffic of Carwow
The website of Carwow (carwow.co.uk) receives about 7.6M visits a month and ranks #8,394 among all websites worldwide, #127 in Vehicles.
- Monthly visits7.6M
▲ 25.2% vs previous month
- Unique visitors2.6M
per month
- Global rank#8,394
among all websites
- Category rank#127
Vehicles · Vehicles
- Bounce rate38%
- Pages per visit4.1
- Average visit2 min 27 sec
- DevicesDesktop 27% · Mobile 73%
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Carwow. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
cargurus.co.uk | cargurus.co.uk | 100% | #9,233 | – | |
| cinch.co.uk | 100% | 3.2M | #19,015 | View details | |
| webuyanycar.com | 98% | #19,255 | View details | ||
parkers.co.uk | parkers.co.uk | 98% | #23,457 | – | |
| arnoldclark.com | 97% | #10,298 | View details | ||
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 40 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Carwow
The complete similar-websites list, audience overlap and engagement analytics require an active premium plan.
- 40 similar websites
- Audience overlap
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- Traffic by brand
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Top companies in Automotive Retail & Aftersales
2 companies that operate in the same segment as Carwow (Automotive Retail & Aftersales) in United Kingdom, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Auto insurance is delivered via app to individual drivers. | 2017 | London, England, United Kingdom | USD 161.3 M | USD 369.88 M | 625 | |
Vehicle parts and accessories are sold via an online platform. | 1897 | Walsall, West Midlands, United Kingdom | USD 20.37 M |
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Related news about Carwow
Complete news archive for Carwow
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Frequently Asked Questions about Carwow
Carwow was founded in 2010 and raised its 1st funding round 4 years after it was founded.
Carwow is headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is registered at London, England, United Kingdom.
Carwow is a funded company, having raised a total of $178.4M across 11 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Series A of $7.13M, raised on Feb 2014.
Carwow was founded in 2010 in London, United Kingdom, as an online marketplace within the automotive sector. Buyers are enabled to search vehicles by make, model, and features, after which personalized offers are received from registered dealers. Comparisons are facilitated based on pricing, dealer locations, review ratings, and current stock availability, streamlining direct purchases.
Carwow's top competitors include Cazoo and Auto Trader.
Carwow offers Car Buying Platform, Leasing Service, Car Selling Service, and Car Reviews.
Carwow has 12 investors. Key investors include Volvo Cars, Mercedes-Benz, Bessemer Venture Partners, Accel, and ITV plc.
The valuation of Carwow is $216M as of Aug 2019.
Carwow operates through Carwow Ltd.
The website of Carwow receives about 7.6 million visits a month and ranks #8,394 among all websites worldwide.