Singapore car marketplace Carro secures US$60 million in Series B funding

vivian

May 14, 2018

Carro

14/5/2018 – Carro, an automotive classifieds services and car finding startup based in Singapore has secured US$60 million in Series B funding to scale its business in Southeast Asia.

The round was co-led by Softbank Ventures Korea, Insignia Ventures Partners, and B Capital Group. It was also participated by the family office of Manik Arora, and existing investors including Venturra, Singtel Innov8, Golden Gate Ventures, and Alpha JWC.

Following the deal, three new members will join Carro’s board, which include Sean Lee, the partner at Softbank Ventures Korea, Euardo Saver, the co-founder and partner at B Capital Group, and Tan Yinglan, the founding managing partner at Insignia Venture Partners.

Carro’s CEO Aaron Tan commented on the deal, saying that “The expertise they bring to the table will allow us to continue scaling up our online marketplace as well as Genie Financial Services, Carro’s own financial services company, which is already profitable.”

Carro’s own financial services company that extends vehicle financing to car dealers and buyers, a platform Tan explained that is already profitable.

Tan also added, “We will double down on our online marketplaces and financing in emerging markets this year. Ultimately, we want to improve the experience of selling and buying a car, as well as provide access to capital to the next billion people, which will improve the quality of lives.”

Founded in 2015, Carro is currently available in Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand. In 2017, more than US$250 million worth of vehicles were reportedly transacted across Carro’s platform. In the same year, Carro’s Genie Financial Services originated over US$100 million in loans.

Last March, Carro introduced its Genie Finance underwriting business and over its first year. “The exact markets are still to be determined but it may be a small setup in Japan and other sources of cars,” Tan added.

Within 2.5 years since the inception of the company, Carro has expanded into auto financing, insurance brokerage, roadside assistance and more. More recently, the company introduced Carro Express, a new service launched in 30 locations across SoutheastAsia, committed to completing each used vehicle transaction within 60 minutes.

vivian

Vivian Foo is a reporter who writes about Southeast Asia’s technology and startup space. The entry point which led her to write about the startup ecosystem was her fascination of the dot-com boom. She is taking a deep dive into how the entrepreneurial mindset works and hopes to share the insights, innovation, and stories of the startups with her readers.