Carwow

Carwow, stylised as carwow, is an online marketplace for buying and selling new and used cars. It uses the reverse marketplace model to remove the need for customers to negotiate with dealers when buying or selling their car. When buying a new car, users choose the car they would like to buy, along with the various specifications and features, then receive offers direct from dealers.[2] When selling a car, users upload some basic details about their car (such as the registration number, mileage and some photos) and then different car dealers are invited to bid to buy the car directly from them.[3] It also provides information to prospective purchasers and gives feedback on rogue dealers. They also have a YouTube page run by motor journalist and carwow's Chief Content Officer Mat Watson where different cars are reviewed.[4] [5]

Carwow
Type of businessPrivate
Available inEnglish
Founded2011 (2011)
HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
Area servedWorldwide
OwnerBalderton Capital, Episode 1 Ventures
Founder(s)James Hind, Alexandra Margolis, David Santoro
IndustryAutomotive
URLhttps://www.carwow.co.uk/
Current statusActive
Carwow
YouTube information
Channel
Presented byMat Watson
Years active2016-present
GenreCar Reviews
Subscribers6.13 Million[1]
(August 2021)
Total views2,042,012,090[1]
(August 2021)

The company has partnered with the RAC as part of RAC Cars' ‘search, buy, sell’ website.[6]

Carwow was founded by James Hind and launched in May 2013. James Hind, when operating Carbuzz, came across the concept from a company which used the reverse tendering concept, called My Best Deal. My Best Deal was the concept of David Paterson, who had formerly been in the motor industry. David Paterson operated at a management level within the motor industry, providing finance and insurance services to clients. Carwow’s investors include venture firms Balderton Capital, Episode 1 Ventures, Samos Investments and Accel Partners.[7] The company had sold over 20,000 cars valued at £550m by January 2016.[8]

History

The company originally launched in 2010 as car research site carbuzz. It offered aggregated expert reviews, user reviews, statistics, videos and images to help consumers looking to purchase a new car find the best vehicle for their taste, budget and requirements.[9]

In May 2013 it re-launched as a car buying platform. The company then raised £1.3m venture capital finance from Balderton Capital, Episode 1 Ventures and Samos Investments, as well as a number of angel investors including Alex Chesterman and Simon Murdoch, in February 2014 to fund growth.[10]

In 2014, its investors provided a further £4.6m of capital so the company could 'expand the team further, roll out above-the-line advertising campaigns and start exploring new markets'.[11]

In August 2015, following a complaint from a competitor, the Advertising Standards Authority found that the competitor "had been providing the same service since 2003" and therefore the ASA "told carwow not to claim that they were the first or only company to offer the advertised service."[12]

In January 2016, carwow raised a further £12.5m in a Series B funding round led by Accel Partners.[13]

A £6m TV advertising campaign for carwow was launched in December 2015, voiced by actor Michael Gambon.[14]

As of June 2021, carwow has multiple YouTube channels in various different languages, presented by Mat Watson (or Dean Malay for the German channel), and have 5.72 million subscribers and over 1.88 billion views in the English main channel.[8]

In 2022, Volvo Cars acquired a minority stake in the company.[15]

YouTube Channels

Carwow has a number of YouTube channels including the main original English Channel,[16] and also channels in Arabic,[17] Korean,[18] German,[19] Chinese,[20] Japanese,[21] Indonesian,[22] Portuguese,[23] Russian[24] and Latin American[25] with most of the channels being presented by Mat Watson, then subsequently dubbed into the correct language. The exception is Carwow Deutschland which is presented by Dean Malay, and carwow Spain which is presented by Juan Francisco Calero. These channels feature car reviews, car comparison, and drag race videos.

References
  1. "About YouTube channel". YouTube.
  2. "Can you save money buying a new car online through carwow?". BT.com. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  3. "Carwow raises $55m to invest in Sell Your Car service". 6 December 2021.
  4. "Zoopla for cars: property site bosses back start-up carwow". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  5. "Carwow YouTube subscribers leap to 2.7million". AMOnline. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  6. "Carwow and RAC partner to offer innovative new car-buying experience - Car Dealer Magazine". Car Dealer Magazine. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  7. O'Hear, Steve. "Car Buying Platform Carwow Raises £12.5M Series B Led by Accel". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  8. "carwow celebrates one million users and £550m worth of cars sold - Startups 100 by Startups.co.uk: Start up a successful business". startups.co.uk. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  9. Love, Martin (2010-11-27). "Car review: Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  10. O'Hear, Steve. "Balderton Capital Leads £1.3M Seed In UK Car Buying Platform Carwow". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  11. O'Hear, Steve. "Car Buying Platform Carwow Secures £4.6M Series A To Step On The Gas". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  12. "ASA Ruling on Digital Blurb Ltd t/a carwow". Advertising Standards Authority. 25 November 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  13. "London startup Carwow has raised £12.5 million from the investors behind Dropbox and Spotify". Business Insider. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  14. "Michael Gambon to become the voice of Carwow". www.am-online.com. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  15. https://www.ft.com/content/3362bc93-ba10-4878-884f-a73878af8193
  16. "carwow - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  17. "carwow العربية - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  18. "carwow 한국 - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  19. "carwow Deutschland - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  20. "carwow 中文 - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  21. "carwow 日本語 - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  22. "carwow Indonesia - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  23. "carwow Brasil - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  24. "carwow Русская версия - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
  25. "carwow América Latina - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-02-16.
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