Gobi leads $6m round for Malaysia's Carsome

Lumia Capital and Innoven Capital also participated in the round, along with existing investors 500 Startups and Spiral Ventures. The new capital will be used to deepen the company's presence in its existing markets of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore, along with entering new markets.

Carsome connects sellers with used car dealers through a platform that hosts more than 1,500 buyers. Unlike C2C online auction houses, Carsome only allows pre-screened commercial dealers to bid on vehicles. The company has five inspection outlets across its markets where sellers bring their cars for assessment before they are listed online. It hopes to double this number by the end of the year.

“The C2B model that Carsome emphasizes makes a lot of sense, especially in emerging markets like Southeast Asia, because there is not enough data that enables trust between consumers,” said Victor Chua, Gobi Partners’ vice-president of investment for ASEAN. “Carsome provides a de-risking element for both sides of the equation - the sellers, who are generally individuals, and buyers, who are dealers.”

Malaysian PE fund IdeaRiverRun led Carsome’s $2 million Series A round last year, which also saw participation by 500 Startups and IMJ Investment Partners. Gobi committed an undisclosed amount of capital as a follow-on to that round. The firm already had experience in the used car world, having backed China’s Mychebao, which has a similar business model to Carsome.

Gobi is headquartered in Shanghai and invests predominantly in China, though it also has a significant presence in Southeast Asia. The GP partnered with Malaysia Venture Capital Management last year to launch a MYR60 million ($14.5 million) fund for seed-stage investments across Southeast Asia.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Consumer
• Technology
• Early-stage
• Malaysia
• Gobi Partners
• Innoven Capital
• 500 Startups
• automobiles
• TMT