Mexican used car unicorn Kavak receives US$700 million funding

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Kavak, a Mexican startup for buying and reselling used vehicles, has announced a Series E funding round. The funds raised a total of US$700 million and relied primarily on participation from venture capital group General Catalyst, as well as Tiger, Ribbit, and Softbank, among others.

The company’s founder, Roger Laughlin, says that the amount will expand operations in Brazil and Argentina. The debut in other markets is also planned, but the executive did not explain the subsequent targets.

“We plan to continue this expansion in emerging markets around the world. We have identified several markets, and we have to invest a lot so that we can scale and serve global markets, it is a very capital-intensive business, infrastructure and also needs a lot of people,” Laughlin told Valor.

Kavak had started its operations in Brazil in late July, adding to a robust initial investment of US$2.5 billion.

Laughlin says that the startup has purchased more than 5,000 vehicles and made more than 1,500 sales since then. “Our initial focus was on building inventory. Our sales operation is more conservative,” he says.

At the time, the startup was valued at about US$4 billion. Roger says that this value has more than doubled to the current US$8.7 billion, taking Kavak to the rank of the second most valuable startup in Latin America.