Carla, a Swedish platform for the purchase, sale and lease of electric vehicles, has secured a €10 million ($11.3 million) Series A funding round.
The injection will finance a recruitment campaign with key appointments in marketing and development, ongoing infrastructural investments and expansion into international markets.
According to Tech EU, the funding round — which takes the company’s total investment to date to €13 million — was led by VNV Global, with participation from Inbox Capital, Luminar Ventures, Max Ventures, and other tech business figures.
Stockholm-based Carla was founded in 2020 by Patrik Illerstig and Niklas Jungegård.
The company says it is “building the most convenient, transparent and easy way to buy or lease an electrified vehicle online. Our aim is to turn one of life’s potentially biggest financial decisions — getting a car — into something truly enjoyable, and at the same time help consumers make a more sustainable choice.”
The company promises pick-up and delivery of an electric vehicle sold on its platform within 72 hours nationwide. It offers “bonnet to boot coverage”, including service, full insurance, winter and summer tires, and vehicle tax.
“The appetite for e-commerce is expanding as we speak. The traditional way of buying a car needs a challenger — so here we are,” said CEO Illerstig.
“With Carla, we want to offer everyone who wants to buy, sell or lease an electric car a convenient, personal, and safe alternative. The interest in the business has been enormous since our launch and we’re almost selling cars at a faster pace than we are able to buy them. We are also very proud of the response among our consumers, reflected through our high ratings on Trustpilot.”
VNV Global CEO Per Brilioth added, “Carla is developing the next-generation way of getting an electric car. The company is challenging the traditional way of buying vehicles with a modern and novel solution. The market for EVs is already huge, and will grow to hundreds of billions of euros — just in Europe.”
