Chinese auto aftermarket leader CassTime closes $80 million Series C1 led by Sequoia Capital and Source Code Capital

源码资本·October 31, 2019·0·0

CassTime has connected with over 1,000 quality suppliers, serving more than 60,000 repair shops. Its fulfillment rate for premium vehicle parts approaches 99%.

On October 31, CassTime, a leading company in China's automotive aftermarket, announced that it has completed an $80 million Series C1 funding round. The round was co-led by Sequoia Capital and Source Code Capital, with Taihe Capital serving as the exclusive financial advisor and participating as an investor, while existing investor Hua Capital continued to participate. Since its founding in 2015, CassTime has repeatedly attracted interest from prominent investment institutions. Against the backdrop of a capital winter, this sustained ability to raise funding reflects dual recognition from both capital markets and the automotive aftermarket industry.

Yongxing Jiang, founder and CEO of CassTime, stated that the proceeds from this round will primarily be used for technology R&D, platform infrastructure development, and market expansion. CassTime is committed to building technological infrastructure for the automotive aftermarket industry, using AI and big data to improve the efficiency and accuracy of parts search and identification, establishing more precise auto parts transaction matching mechanisms, and continuously developing and improving its supply system, after-sales rules, and credit system. CassTime will continue to expand its vehicle models and product categories around full-vehicle parts, entering more markets.

Yongxing Jiang, Founder & CEO of CassTime

CassTime's full-vehicle parts trading platform, "CassTime Auto Parts," is designed to solve the core problem of efficiency in parts trading. Its "AI + Big Data" intelligent search engine, VIN decoder, and intelligent transaction matching have significantly improved the efficiency of auto parts trading. CassTime has established standards and a credit system for auto parts trading. By connecting with high-quality source suppliers, CassTime has built quality guarantees including parts warranties and compensation for counterfeit or defective products, and provides an after-sales system including technical services, making auto parts trading more reliable. At the same time, CassTime helps suppliers improve inventory turnover and capital efficiency through data services and supply chain finance.

CassTime advocates "openness, cooperation, and mutual benefit," having connected with over 1,000 quality suppliers and serving more than 60,000 repair shops. CassTime Auto Parts achieves a supply fulfillment rate of nearly 99% for luxury vehicle parts, with business coverage spanning 325 cities nationwide, servicing 1 million vehicles per month. Having completed the "0 to 1" phase, CassTime is now expanding "from 1 to N" — broadening its boundaries by adding more vehicle models and product categories.

Kui Zhou, partner at Sequoia Capital, said, "CassTime uses technology to reduce costs and increase efficiency for the industry, providing safe and reliable parts and faster, better service to hundreds of millions of car owners, generating very positive social impact. The CassTime founding team has deep understanding of the automotive aftermarket, clear strategic vision, and strong execution capabilities, which is why we are optimistic about CassTime's future development."

Yi Cao, founding partner of Source Code Capital, said, "Auto parts distribution is a classic large-scale 'circulation internet' track. CassTime leverages information technology to dramatically improve the efficiency of parts decoding and supply-demand matching, and has proven this model in the luxury vehicle segment. CassTime's platform-based light-asset model, strong data foundation, and entrenched user habits on both the supply and demand sides will help the company grow faster in the auto parts distribution sector."