CARSOME SECURES US$50 MILLION FUNDING FROM GLOBAL INVESTORS

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 16 -- Carsome has completed the equity closing for a U$50 million Series C funding from global investors, which will be utilised to strengthen its leadership in online used-car trading in ASEAN.

In a statement, it said the funding would be used to help consolidate its market leadership in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, with expansion into more cities in Southeast Asia, as well as to accelerate financing product offerings for dealers and consumers with multi-country roll-outs over the next 12 months.

“Carsome has built a successful track record with loan portfolios over the past year and is ready to scale up the offering by working with strategic partners, including regional banks and non-banking financial institutions,” it said.

The current financing round welcomed new investors, including MUFG Innovation Partners (MUIP); corporate venture capital arm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc (MUFG), one of the world’s leading financial groups; and Daiwa PI Partners, the private equity arm of Daiwa Securities Group, one of Japan’ largest securities groups, Endeavor Catalyst and Ondine Capital.

It also saw participation from existing investors, including Gobi Partners and Convergence Ventures, and other undisclosed new investors.

Carsome co-founder and chief executive officer Eric Cheng said it was encouraged by the support of its global investors in the Series C round.

“They share in our vision to revolutionise Southeast Asia’s used car industry by establishing and upholding a new standard of quality assurance and through the better use of transactional data.

“We aspire to be the Visa/Master network of auto transactions, and build a collaborative ecosystem of partners to provide the best experience to consumers in Southeast Asia,” he added.

Meanwhile, Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo said Carsome is one of Malaysia’s disruptive and innovative online used-car trading platform and it is a trailblazing regional market player.

“Carsome has secured Series C funding from a group of international investors and this is a strong recognition of the value and potential of our digital tech companies.

“I certainly encourage more investors to seriously look at our start-ups and small and medium enterprises for more high-value opportunities,” the minister added.

Carsome has established itself as Southeast Asia’s leading used car trading platform with a strong market leadership in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Over 40,000 cars transacted annually totalling more than US$300 million in transaction value, excluding all loan and financing deployment.

Carsome has over 700 employees across its Southeast Asian offices. Operationally, Carsome remains highly capital efficient. It is operationally profitable in Malaysia and targets profitability in the remaining markets by end-2020.

-- BERNAMA