who owns carwow

Carwow is owned by a mix of founders, venture capital investors, and strategic corporate investors. Carwow was founded by James Hind, Alexandra Margolis, and David Santoro in May 2013. Since then, the ownership has evolved through multiple funding rounds with investments from Balderton Capital, Episode 1 Ventures, Samos Investments, and angel investors like Alex Chesterman and Simon Murdoch early on. Subsequent major investors include Accel Partners (Series B round in 2016), Daimler—the parent company of Mercedes-Benz (strategic funding in 2019), Volvo Cars (minority stake acquisition in 2022), ITV (media-for-equity investment in 2022), and Bessemer Venture Partners (leading a Series E round in 2024). The company has also grown through acquisitions, such as buying Wizzle (rebranded as "Sell Your Car") in 2021 and Autovia Limited in 2024. As of mid-2025, the company valuation was around $320 million (£250 million), reflecting a broad ownership base of venture capital firms and strategic investors alongside the original founders.