Malaysia’s Socar gets $18m from Korean investors

It brings Socar Malaysia’s total funding to date to $40 million and values the business at $118 million. The company’s Korea-based business raised about $56 million in 2018 from a group including IMM Private Equity, Bain Capital, Premier Partners, and SK Holdings.

Socar set up operations in Southeast Asia in 2018 with 240 cars in Kuala Lumpur and plans to grow the fleet to 10,000 by the end of 2020. The company is currently said to have about 2,000 vehicles across the Kuala Lumpur area and a number of markets within Malaysia. 

The fresh capital will be applied to technology improvements and geographic expansions beyond Malaysia. Much of the plan focuses on promoting novel services such as the door-to-door offering Socar2U, which allows customers to have vehicles dropped off at their home or a desired pickup point. 

Eugene Group is a Seoul-based conglomerate established in 1954 with interests in financial, energy, logistics, industrials, environmental, and entertainment sectors. It launched its private equity unit in 2015. Recent investments include waste processor and recycling specialist KC EnviroService Network and industrial supplier Korea Steel Shapes.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Consumer
• Early-stage
• Technology
• Malaysia
• automobiles
• Transportation