Amit Jain MOBILITY DREAMS

The co-founder and CEO of the CarDekho Group on starting a business from a garage, on how they hit upon the idea of creating a portal for cars, and his love for coding

- Nitin Sreechar

Amit Jain's world might revolve around cars but at heart, the co-founder and CEO of the CarDekho Group is a techie. "I'm a by profession... Writing code is something I love and I still do it," says Jain, 47, who leads CarDekho.com, the online automobile marketplace that connects car buyers and sellers, while also offering content, reviews, comparisons and other services to help users pick their next set of wheels.

Founded in 2008, the CarDekho Group is one of the leading autotech and finance solution providers in India with more than 60 million monthly active users. Valued at around $1.2 billion (around 9,960 crore), the group now operates in many areas: insurance (Insurance Dekho), fintech (through digital lending platform Rupyy) and other automobile content portals (BikeDekho, ZigWheels and Powerdrift), and has a total workforce of 6,000 employees.

CarDekho, which "drove into the unicorn club after a $250 million fundraise", according to a 2021 Mint article, is backed by investors like Peak XV (formerly Sequoia), Hillhouse Capital, CapitalG, Ratan Tata Trust, LeapFrog, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank, among others.

In FY23, the group recorded revenues of ₹2,331 crore, up 46% from FY22. The group expects to grow its revenue 60-70% in FY24 as well.

I met Jain recently at the CarDekho office in Gurugram, Haryana. Away from the noisy, yet lively, open office environment, we settle down in a conference room. During an hour-long conversation over tea, Jain recalls how this journey of becoming a serial entrepreneur and building a "billion-dollar company"-which is what he achieved-started from a garage.

Born in Jaipur, Jain was raised in a middle-class family with a focus on academics.