Cazana has closed its latest round of crowdfunding at £1.56 million, nearly 160% of its original investment target to embark on global expansion plans

Cazana has reported that it is also one of the first companies ever to overfund in the initial private round on the Crowdcube platform.

The raise was led by Passion Capital, along with David Hammond and former RAC managing director Robert Diamond, with existing Cazana customers and motoring enthusiasts also investing their money in the rapidly growing business.

As a sign of Cazana’s success, Passion Capital added a further £100,000 to their initial investment during the course of the public raise.

Cazana’s chief executive, Tom Wood, said: “It’s fantastic to see a whole range of investors become a part of the company, from well-established backers to first-time investors.

"With the acquisition of Car & Classic last year and the closing of this raise, it’s been an unbelievably successful twelve months for us.

“This raise will accelerate our plans for UK growth, secure a stronger foothold in the US, invest in our consumer facing platforms and expand our reach and services to better help both consumers and businesses.

"The motor industry is full of potential for businesses pushing it in a new direction and I can’t wait to get going on our plans for the future.”

The £1.56 million funding will support the global expansion of the business, as well as accelerating monetisation of Cazana’s B2B sales.

It will also be used to develop Cazana’s growing suite of services, including the newly-acquired Car & Classic website, and support its expansion in the US market. 

The recent acquisition of Car & Classic in 2018 enabled Cazana to pool two powerful digital motoring databases.

Car & Classic is Europe’s largest classic car community as well as the world’s largest classified website for classic cars, facilitating the sale of more than 480 million classic cars in 2018.

This latest round of finance aims to boost the reach of both platforms.

Passion Capital partner, Robert Dighero, said: “Passion Capital's extra investment during the public raise demonstrates our confidence in the business and the vast opportunities ahead in this exciting area of the motor industry.

"The fact the public have so enthusiastically backed Cazana with this overfund shows that the services it offers are in high demand, with businesses and consumers both greatly benefiting from the shared insight.”