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Carro becomes Singapore’s latest unicorn after SoftBank-led USD 360 million injection

Written by Tech in Asia Published on   2 mins read

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EV Growth, the growth-stage arm of East Ventures, joined the latest round.

Auto marketplace Carro said on Tuesday that it passed the USD 1 billion valuation mark after raising USD 360 million in a Series C round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. The firm further announced that it closed its financial year ending March 2021 with over 2.5x growth in annual revenue.

Founded in 2015, Carro provides services for all aspects of car ownership, from buying and selling to financing solutions and after-sales services. Its group of companies includes financial services unit Genie, Malaysia-based car bidding platform myTukar, and C2C marketplace Jualo.

Thanks to startups like Carro and its Malaysia-based rival Carsome, used-car e-commerce is surging in Southeast Asia. In November, Carro’s chief financial officer Ernest Chew told Tech in Asia that sales saw a boost amid the pandemic. “If you have an economic headwind, people’s jobs are on the line,” he explained. “Even though I wanted to buy a new car previously, I might downgrade to a used car and save some money until there’s more visibility in the economy.”

The startup will use the new funds to expand its offerings across Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, markets where the firm saw significant growth in the past year. It will also expand its financial services and fund the development of its AI capabilities.

EV Growth—the growth-stage arm of East Ventures—joined this latest round. It’s now invested in the same company as Alpha JWC Ventures. This brings together two firms that aren’t known to invest in the same startups, according to Tech in Asia’s analysis.

This article was originally published by Tech in Asia.

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