Malaysia’s car marketplace Carsome raises US$300 million in latest funding round

Malaysia-based used-car online marketplace Carsome has raised US$300 million in the latest funding round led by funds linked to Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd. and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund.

Among investors, Sea Town Holdings and 65 Equity Partners both backed by Temasek- and Qatar Investment Authority participated in the round.

Carsome Malaysia’s most valuable technology startup is also planning an initial public offering in the U.S. later this year.

The company had already started gauging investor’s interest in November 2021 and was seeking to raise about US$200 million in funding, as reported at that time. It had raised US$170 million in September 2021 in a Series D2 round from Gobi Partners, Asia Partners, and 500 Southeast Asia, among investors, taking its valuation to US$1.3 billion.

About Carsome

Founded in 2015 by Eric Chengh and Jiun Ee Teoh, Carsome offers an online used car platform that provides efficient car selling and buying services to entities and individuals.

Carsome targets at digitizing the region’s used car industry by uplifting and reshaping the car buying and selling experience.

The company provides end-to-end solutions to used car dealers and consumers, from inspection of cars to transferring of ownership to financing on its platform. . Through its online bidding portal, Carsome allows users to sell their vehicles directly to dealers. The company enables the entire car selling process from inspection to valuation, bidding, and payment as well as logistics needs, allowing the customers to sell their cars hassle-free.

Carsome is Southeast Asia’s largest integrated automotive ecommerce platform and has expanded its operations across Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore. The company has over 1700 employees across all its offices. It works with over 8000 dealers and handles over 100,000 car transactions on an annualized basis, according to the company’s website.

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