As people avoided riding public transportation to reduce the risk of infection during the pandemic, sales of personal vehicles soared during the pandemic.
According to a Redseer analysis, auto sales jumped by 140 percent between April and June 2021. Droom, an ecommerce platform for buying and selling used vehicles, also experienced explosive growth.
In a conversation on YourStory’s Daily Dispatch, Sandeep Aggarwal, Founder and CEO of Droom Technologies, said since the onset of the pandemic, the company has been growing at a higher rate than pre-pandemic. This rise is attributed to the patterns that have emerged in the space as a result of COVID-19. Because of the risk of infection, people avoided sharing rides or taking public transportation.
“COVID-19, in a harsh manner, reminded [of the benefits] of owning rather than sharing,” he says.
He goes on to say that ecommerce has seen wider adoption as people avoided physical contact as much as possible. He highlights that stricter emission norms and chip shortage have also contributed to the growth. In 2021, chip shortage hampered the production of new cars, increasing second-hand vehicle sales.
In terms of future plans, he says the business intends to expand its last-mile delivery service to more than 1,100 cities. At the moment, this service is only offered in major metropolitan cities. In the coming years, the startup also intends to upgrade its technology and resume plans of international expansion, which were put on hold during the pandemic.
Sandeep says that the company plans to work on financial services such as loans and insurance as well. There are also plans for mergers and acquisitions in the coming years.
Droom had filed preliminary paperwork with SEBI, the capital markets regulator, to raise Rs 3,000 crore through an initial public offering (IPO) in November 2021.
Sandeep says Rs 1,000 crore would be distributed to existing shareholders and investors, while the remainder would be used to improve the technology, make acquisitions, and expand internationally.
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