Carsome hits $1.7b valuation on closing $290m Series E

The round values Carsome at USD 1.7bn, up from USD 1.3bn when the company closed its USD 170m Series D extension in September 2021. It represents another step up in fundraising pace – Carsome has now received approximately USD 600m from private investors – ahead of a widely anticipated US listing.

Other participants in the Series E include MediaTek, Sunway, Gokongwei Group, YTL Group, and Taiwan Mobile. Indonesian media giant MediaTek also featured in the Series D extension, alongside Catcha Group, Malaysian government-backed Penjana Kapital, and ASEAN-focused boutique investor Emissary Capital.

The presence of growth capital-focused 65 Equity and hedge fund specialist Seatown – both of which are controlled by Temasek Holdings – point to an impending IPO.

65 Equity was established at the end of last year to support Southeast Asian companies with regional and global expansion ambitions. It is responsible for a SGD 1.5bn (USD 1.1bn) fund that will anchor IPOs and a SGD 1bn vehicle intended to develop regional champions. Overall assets are expected to reach SGD 4.5bn, with 65 Equity capable of deployments of USD 100-200m.

Founded in 2015, Carsome runs an online portal that allows car owners to source bids for their vehicles from pre-screened commercial car dealers and access support services across the sales process, including inspection, valuation, payment, and logistics. The company says its inspectors appraise cars on-site using "proprietary inspector toolsets" and pricing models.

At the time of the Series D extension, Carsome was transacting more than 100,000 cars on an annualized basis, translating into USD 1bn in revenue. Initially a C2B operation, it wants to create Southeast Asia's first integrated C2B and B2C platform, including a financing component. B2C build-out efforts include opening retail centres across Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.

There have also been several bolt-on acquisitions, notably automotive web portal operator iCar Asia – from Catcha – and Universal Collection, a Jakarta-based car and motorcycle auction business.

The company said in a statement that it would use the Series E proceeds to "accelerate investment in people, product, technology, data capability, infrastructure, and regional expansion of its retail brand."

Among Carsome's earlier backers are Asia Partners, Gobi Partners, 500 Southeast Asia, Ondine Capital, Burda Principal Investments, MUFG Innovation Partners, and Daiwa PI Partners

The company's competitors include Carro, which facilitates sales of used vehicles across the C2B, B2B, and B2C verticals, and is aggressively pushing into financial services. Carro received a USD 477m round in June 2021, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Expansion
• Technology
• Consumer
• Malaysia
• Singapore
• Temasek Holdings
• automobiles
• TMT
• QIA