Casstime CEO Overmars Jiang image: Casstime

Casstime, a Chinese online automobile parts marketplace, has announced $80 million in new funding co-led by Sequoia Capital China and Source Code Capital, with participation from existing investor Hua Partners. The new funding brings the total investment raised by Shanghai-based Casstime to nearly $200 million. The company says it’ll put the new funding towards R&D and market development.

Casstime, founded in 2015, operates in more than 300 Chinese cities, and with more than 1,200 auto parts suppliers signed up on its platform. Casstime is basically an auto parts marketplace where individuals can search for and order auto parts from vetted suppliers. The company also offers a Software as a Service (SaaS) management system alongside supply chain financing and logistics services for workshops.

Casstime currently employs more than 1,000 people, including 200+ R&D staff and 750+ marketing and operations staff. Prior to this funding, the company had gone through five financing rounds, which included investments from blue-chip Chinese VCs like Shunwei Capital and Fosun RZ Capital.

Casstime’s executive team, flanked by CEO Overmars Jiang (Middle) image: Casstime

Casstime came up with a unique way to help users purchase auto parts, by entering their Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) or part names directly. The company claims this method reduces the error rate associated with manual parts lookup from 5% down to just 0.03%. Casstime also claims its service brings search time down from minutes per part to “less than a second”.

“China’s automotive aftermarket is extremely huge, but the infrastructure is weak. Casstime is building technical infrastructure for the industry, just as important as paving a highway. We are using technology to solve the problems of efficiency and cost.” its CEO Overmars Jiang said in a statement.

Casstime is touting China’s already large auto parts market as one with “massive potential for further growth”. And with data from the World Bank Group indicating that there are 173 cars for every 1,000 people in China, compared to 837 in the U.S., and that the average vehicle age in China is just 4-5 years compared to 11.8 years in the U.S., Casstime’s tout doesn’t seem far-fetched. Such stats indicate there’s room for growth in China’s automobile market, which in turn drives the auto parts market in the same trajectory.