ITV investment vehicle AdVentures Invest has signed a partnership with new and used car marketplace Carwow, acquiring a minority stake in the business in return for advertising inventory across ITV and ITV Hub.
ITV has agreed an initial investment valued at £2.5m in return for TV ad inventory but has an option to invest a further £2.5m.
The deal marks ITV's first media-for-equity investment in 2022 and follows the scheme's 2021 deals, which included a £2m minority stake in location service What3words.
Carwow, which is making its mark on the new and used car market across Europe and which has a huge presence on YouTube with 6.7 million subscribers, has attracted numerous investors into its brand, including automotive company Daimler, Hercules Capital, Accel, Vitruvian and Balderton.
In its accounts for the year ending December 2020, Carwow reported gross assets of £22.9m and a net loss of £6.7m.
Niko Waesche, fund manager of ITV AdVentures Invest, said: "We are delighted to be partnering with Carwow. The team has demonstrated a deep understanding of both content and commerce, helping car buyers and sellers across the UK, Spain and Germany.
"Carwow is the go-to household brand for objective and entertaining car reviews and this guidance is essential for consumers, particularly as many people transition to electric vehicles."
James Hind, chief executive and founder of Carwow, added: "We are very excited to be working with ITV and to have the opportunity to show even more people how we can help them change cars in the coming years. We're very proud to have delivered impressive year-on-year growth, helping more people find their next car, sell their old one and keep informed and entertained by our content.
"We look forward to deploying our first campaigns with ITV right away and building out our presence quickly over the months ahead. Any car owner can benefit from our offerings and given ITV's unique reach to households across the country, it was an obvious partner for us."
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