VCs exit Cluno to VC-backed Cazoo

Cluno's founding team also founded online car sales platform Easyautosale in 2011, which was sold to Scout24 in 2015 for around €5.6m.

In November 2019, Cluno CEO Nico Polleti told Unquote sister publication Mergermarket that Cluno could raise a series-C of €50-80m in 2020, with the aim of expanding to new European markets.

The acquisition is part of Cazoo's European growth strategy, the company said in a statement. Cazoo intends to launch a car subscription service in the UK in the coming months.

The deal is Cazoo's third add-on in the space of three months; it acquired car subscription service Drover in December 2020, followed by UK-based Smart Fleet Solutions, a vehicle reconditioning and storage businesses, in January 2021.

Cazoo was founded in 2018 and raised its first round of funding in December of that year, according to Unquote Data. The company raised £240m in October 2020 in a round led by General Catalyst and D1 Capital. The round valued the company at more than $2bn, double its valuation at the time of its £25m funding round in June that year, the company said in a statement at the time.

The company is now backed by Shell Ventures, Target Global, RTP Global, Autotech Ventures, Channel 4 Ventures, Rider Global, Cherry Ventures, BP Ventures, Partech, Version One, Forward Partners, D1 Capital Partners, L Catterton Management, DMG Ventures and General Catalyst.

Cazoo is considering an IPO, according to press reports. The offer is set to comprise a listing in London with a New York-listed SPAC and could value the company at £5bn.

Previous funding
Atlantic Labs led a seed funding round for Cluno in 2016.
In April 2018, Acton Capital led a €7m series-A funding round for Cluno, in which Atlantic Labs also participated. Acton invested via Heureka Growth Fund II, which held a final close in October 2015 on $200m, according to Unquote Data.

In February 2019, Valar Ventures led a $28m series-B funding round for the company, joined by existing investors Atlantic Labs and Acton Capital Partners.

Company
Founded in 2017 by Christina Polleti, Nico Polleti and Andreas Schuierer, Cluno is an online car rental subscription platform. The platform offers almost 100 vehicle models and allows users to pay on a monthly basis. The Munich-based company employs 100 people, compared with 55 staff at the time of its last funding round.

People
Cluno – Nico Polleti (co-founder, CEO).
Cazoo – Alex Chesterman (founder, CEO).
Valar Ventures – Andrew McCormack (general partner).
Acton Capital – Christoph Braun (managing partner).
Atlantic Labs – Christophe Maire (founder, CEO).
General Catalyst – Adam Valkin (managing director).
D1 Capital – Dan Sundheim (founder).

Advisers
Cazoo – Numis Securities (corporate finance).
Cluno – SMP, Benjamin Ullrich, Malte Bergmann, Adrian Haase, Ann-Kristin Lochmann, Matthias Kresser, Daniela Machado, Christiane Schnitzler (legal).

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Exits
• Portfolio management
• DACH
• Consumer
• Technology
• Trade sale
• Build-up
• Germany