‘Alibaba of cars’ becomes next Singapore unicorn after SoftBank-led $360m injection

Southeast Asia’s Carro has raced past the US$1 billion valuation mark after raising US$360 million in a series C round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, the giant venture capital fund of Japan’s SoftBank Group.

Aaron Tan, Carro’s founder and CEO / Photo credit: Carro

In a statement, Carro said it closed its financial year ending (FYE) 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 to after-sales services. Its group of companies includes financial services unit Genie, Malaysia-based car bidding platform myTukar, and consumer-to-consumer marketplace Jualo.

Thanks to startups like Carro and its Malaysia-based archrival Carsome, used-cars ecommerce is surging in Southeast Asia.

In November, Carro’s chief financial officer Ernest Chew told Tech in Asia that the startup’s growth throughout last year may be attributed to used-car sales, which saw a boost amid the financial crisis brought by the Covid-19 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 may probably downgrade to a used car and save some money there until there’s more visibility in the economy.”

See also: Carro, the ‘Alibaba for cars,’ is growing fast and near breakeven

Carro also announced that it is facilitating around US$1 billion in gross merchandise volume on an annualized basis.

The startup will use the new funds to expand its offerings across Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore – markets where the company said it 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 has now invested in the same company as Alpha JWC Ventures, bringing together two firms that aren’t known to back the same startups, according to Tech in Asia’s analysis.

Dive deeper. Get exclusive insights and details on this funding round and Carro in our subscriber-only story: Carro is on track to hit $1 billion in revenue this year.