With so many high-end SUVs, mid-segment hatchbacks, and luxurious sedans launching every month in India, the average buyer is often confused about which vehicle to buy. The companies obviously elaborate on the best features of a car and tend to skip the drawbacks. Users often regretted buying certain car brands as they were unaware of the drawbacks initially.
Amit Jain, the co-founder, and CEO of GirnarSoft, an IT externalizing company understood this dilemma of car buyers and decided to launch CarDekho in 2008. The website and app of CarDekho post genuine reviews of every new car launched in the market and also post comparisons between similar cars. This helps users buy their most preferred cars.
He is currently seen hosting the popular TV show – Shark Tank India. Well, this was about his professional life, but what about his personal life? Here is a detailed biography of this insightful man.
Early Life and Education
Born and brought up in a traditional family, Amit Jain completed his education in Jaipur and Delhi. His primary and secondary education was from St. Xavier’s School Jaipur, while his graduation was from IIT Delhi. His father had a semi-precious gemstone business and was also an astrologer. Amit’s brother Anurag helped their father in the business. While both the brothers agreed that astrology is a bit deceiving and were not very happy with their family business, they were aware of how important it was for their family. After their father’s death due to cancer, both the brothers quit this business to come up with CarDekho in 2008 which became a grand success.
He is married to Pihu Jain who works at Girnar Software Pvt. Ltd. They have twin sons.
Early Career
After graduating from IIT Delhi in 1999, he bagged a job at Tata Consultancy Services as a Software Engineer. Later, he shifted to Trilogy, a software-based company in Texas, and worked there for 7 years initially as a Senior Associate, then as a Delivery Manager, and finally as a Product Manager. He returned back home as soon as he got the news of his father suffering from cancer.
Once home, he launched a company called GirnarSoft in 2007 which launched CarDekho in 2008. CarDekho got rave reviews right from the start. Millions of people thronged the website regularly to stay updated with the reviews, information, and comparisons of various cars. They soon began expanding their online venture. CarDekho is today one of India’s most trusted online platforms to get honest and crucial information about cars.
The Turning Point
Initially, when Amit started GirnarSoft with his brother, they began from their small home garage. They had dreamt of establishing an IT outsourcing firm. They had a team of 20 people working for them. The very first year of the company was very profitable and they could afford a new office. But soon, in 2009, they lost all their money in stocks with zero funds left to manage their new office or salaries. They learned many important lessons at this time about investments and corporate money usage.
At the same time, the India of CarDekho was brewing in Amit’s mind. They made CarDekho live within 2 weeks. They immediately saw great potential in this project and launched CarDekho as their new official flagship project.
CarDekho proved to be a hit instantly and got the Jain brothers fame, wealth, money and success. The business claims to sell more than 3000 new cars and 6000 used cars each month, as well as getting over 35 million monthly active visitors.
The Road Ahead
The business received sizeable funding in 2013 from an American firm called Sequoia Capital. Due to CarDekho’s outstanding online presence, it attracted a significant number of businesses for advertising. Later, it also purchased Zigwheels in 2015 and Gaddi.com in 2014. After the rapid success of CarDekho, the duo also launched InsuranceDekho, BikeDekho and College Dekho.
Without a doubt, CarDekho was instrumental in improving the reputation of GirnarSoft, the parent company. After raising $250 million in its Series E funding round in October 2021, generating its valuation to $1.2 billion, CarDekho became a unicorn startup in India.
After 11 fantastic years of CarDekho, the new logo was unveiled in February 2019 by CarDekho owner Amit Jain. The trendy new logo makes the app’s automated settings obvious. For example, a tool to compare old and new cars is created whenever a new car enters the market in order to make things clearer.
CarDekho also helps users sell used cars in India. The basic aim of CarDekho is to provide comparisons, reviews, and feedback on different cars so that users can make informed buying decisions.
Amit Jain did not give up when the newfound venture from their home garage seemed to be crumbling before their eyes! Instead, he used his software brain to come up with a brilliant concept of CarDekho, that not only paid their debts but got them millions and millions soon afterward.
