Carro fuels up with $100m raise from Temasek, others

Singapore-based Carro has raised US$100 million in a fresh financing round from investors including Temasek and Malaysian state-backed fund manager Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), a source with knowledge of the matter told Tech in Asia.

The Carro team / Photo credit: Carro

While Temasek unit Anderson Investments poured US$30 million into Carro, PNB invested US$25 million in the used-car marketplace.

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

Carro’s revenue surged by 2.5x to around S$300 million (US$226 million) for the financial year ended March 2021. It also has its eyes set on the public market within the next two years, with Nasdaq as a potential listing destination.

However, during Tech in Asia‘s conference in October, Carro CEO Aaron Tan said that the ongoing global chip shortage is hurting the used-car space in Southeast Asia, with fewer new cars being sold causing a “supply crunch” in the second-hand market.

The latest investment comes amid a growing interest among consumers in the Asia-Pacific region to optimize their purchases by buying used products. The region’s car rental market is expected to register a compound annual growth rate of about 6.7% between 2020 and 2025.

See also: Carsome and Carro: A neck-and-neck race to transform how people buy cars

Other existing investors in the round include:

• Emtek Group
• A unit of Shinhan Financial Group
• Greater Honour International
• Sime Singapore
• Mirae Asset

Currency converted from Singapore dollar to US dollar: US$1 = S$1.37.