Checkars

Overview

Checkars was Argentina's first online dealer for inspected used cars with a warranty. It bought each vehicle into inventory, checked its legal and mechanical condition, repaired it, published a fixed-price listing, handled paperwork and financing, delivered the car, and allowed returns.^[1] That operating model addressed the two problems classifieds could not solve: the seller might know more than the buyer, and neither party wanted to manage an uncertain transfer.

The company moved quickly. Founded in 2018 by former OLX automotive leaders Jaime Macaya and Juan Cruz de la Rúa, it raised seed capital, joined Y Combinator's Winter 2020 batch, passed 1,000 transactions in its first 18 months, and reported a net promoter score above 85.^[2] It then merged with, or was acquired by, Mexican used-car company Kavak in August 2020, giving Kavak its first international market and converting Checkars into Kavak Argentina.^[3]

The transaction was an operating success rather than a rescue. Checkars had proved that Argentines would buy a costly asset online, and COVID-19 pushed its sales from a mostly physical flow to fully digital. Kavak supplied the regional capital and systems needed to scale inventory, reconditioning, financing, and logistics. Both founders joined Kavak's board, and Macaya became its Argentina CEO.^[4]

Founding Story

Macaya and de la Rúa met while leading automotive work at OLX in Latin America. Classifieds generated leads but left inspection, price negotiation, payment, title transfer, financing, and delivery to strangers. The founders saw that gap every day. In September 2017 they left OLX, spent roughly 90 days defining the new company, and ran their first buy-and-sell tests in February 2018. Checkars was operating by May.^[5]

Their backgrounds matched the problem. Macaya had studied international relations, completed an MBA at Columbia, and worked in consulting before running OLX verticals. De la Rúa was an industrial engineer who had worked at Google before OLX and took charge of operations.^[5]

They began with about $100,000 from selling their own cars and taking family money. The first outside round brought $1 million from nine strategic angels, including former Peugeot-Citroën Argentina president Luis Ureta Sáenz Peña, fleet-management executive Arturo Simone, and IguanaFix founder Matías Recchia.^[6] Industry capital helped with both credibility and the practical knowledge required to price and recondition cars.

Timeline

• September 2017: Macaya and de la Rúa left OLX after deciding its classifieds model did not solve the complete used-car transaction.^[5]
• February to May 2018: The founders ran their first transactions in February and launched the operating business in May.^[5]
• August 2018: Checkars closed a $1 million angel round after buying and selling 60 cars during its first six operating months.^[6]
• August 2019: A $1.3 million seed round led by Jaguar Ventures funded a 20-person team. Checkars had sold 220 cars and expected about 500 for the year.^[7]
• Winter 2020: Checkars joined Y Combinator and reported more than 1,000 transactions in 18 months with NPS above 85.^[2]
• August 26, 2020: Kavak announced its combination with Checkars and entry into Argentina.^[1][3]
• 2021: The Checkars brand was scheduled to become Kavak Argentina, with Macaya leading the country operation.^[1]
• 2022: Kavak Argentina employed about 800 people, carried roughly 1,600 vehicles, and said it held about 0.5% of the country's used “nearly new” segment.^[4]
• 2026: The Checkars domain redirects to Kavak Argentina. Kavak remained active and announced a $300 million Series F after reporting nearly 120,000 global transactions in 2025.^[8][9]