Draper Esprit : Our investment in Cazoo, changing the way you buy cars.

Draper Esprit is pleased to announce our participation and investment in the latest £25m Series C funding round in Cazoo, alongside Stride, part of the Draper Esprit Fund of Funds portfolio.

Cazoo, a British online used car marketplace digitsies the car buying experience and allows customers to purchase a car online and have it delivered to their door in as little as 72 hours.

Founded in late 2018 by Lovefilm and Zoopla founder, Alex Chesterman, the company changes the way consumers purchase cars. Cazoo owns and fully reconditions all its cars before putting them up for sale and delivering them directly to the customer's front door. The purchase of the car takes place entirely online, including instant financing as well as getting an instant offer for any part exchange. The company's cars come with 90-day warranties and roadside assistance.

Cazoo strives to transform the way people buy used cars in the UK, providing better selection, value, convenience and quality.

Read the press release below to find out more.

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London, June 23rd 2020: Draper Esprit, a leading venture capital firm investing in and developing high growth digital technology businesses, today announces that it has participated in the latest £25m Series C funding round in Cazoo, the UK's leading online car retailer. Cazoo allows customers to buy a used car entirely online and have it delivered to their door in as little as 72 hours.

Following the success of their initial £100m Series C round in March, with backers including Stride.VC, part of the Draper Esprit Fund of Funds portfolio, Cazoo chose to extend the round as it continues to deliver exceptional growth. Draper Esprit has participated alongside existing investors including DMG Ventures and General Catalyst. This sum brings the company's total funding to date to over £200 million raised in less than two years.

Cazoo was founded in late 2018 by one of the UK's most successful digital entrepreneurs, Alex Chesterman, who previously founded LoveFilm and more recently Zoopla which was acquired off of the London Stock Exchange for £2.2bn in 2018. Using a similar model to highly-valued companies such as Carvana and Vroom in the US, Cazoo puts the customer fully in control of the car buying process and makes purchasing a car as simple and seamless as buying any other product online today.

Alex Chesterman, Founder and CEO, Cazoo, commented:

'We are delighted to welcome Draper Esprit as a shareholder in Cazoo where we remain completely focused on reinventing the used car buying experience by providing the best selection, value, quality, and convenience for UK car buyers.'

Martin Davis, CEO, Draper Esprit, commented:

'We are delighted to be participating in this Series C Round. At Cazoo, Alex Chesterman has in place a talented and proven senior team to help him scale this business and bring digital transformation to the used car market. Cazoo is a perfect example of the businesses we seek for Growth investments and is a statement of intent from Simon and Will Turner on deals we'll be seeking in future.

'It is also great to be investing alongside Stride.VC, one of the seed specialists in our Fund of Fund programme. This is just the latest great example of the sorts of deals our pan-European funds strategy has delivered.'

Simon Cook, Founding Partner, Draper Esprit, commented

'Having worked with Alex at Lovefilm, and seen what he achieved at Zoopla, we've long admired his incredible track record of executing great businesses which deliver real value to customers at scale. Cazoo has a fantastic team and we're really excited to see how it will transform the used car market.'

-ENDS-

About Draper EspritDraper Esprit is one of the most active venture capital firms in Europe, developing and investing in disruptive, high growth technology companies. We believe the best entrepreneurs in Europe are capable of building the global businesses of the future. We fuel their growth with long- term capital, access to international networks and decades of experience building businesses. Currently, Draper Esprit is a shareholder in a diverse portfolio of companies including Trustpilot, UiPath, TransferWise, and Graphcore. For more information please visit: www.draperesprit.com

About Cazoo

Our mission is to transform the way people buy used cars in the UK by providing better selection, value, convenience and quality. We aim to make car buying no different than buying any other product online today, where consumers can simply and seamlessly purchase a used car entirely online and have it delivered to their door in as little as 72 hours. Cazoo was founded in 2018 and has a highly experienced management team, led by Founder & CEO, Alex Chesterman OBE.

Contact:

Powerscourt (public relations)

James White:07855 432699

Jessica Hodgson:07561 424788

Posted on 23 Jun 2020

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