CARRO raises US$90m from SoftBank Ventures Asia and EDBI

SINGAPORE, 6th AUGUST 2019 – Carro, Southeast Asia’s largest wholesale automotive marketplace, today announced that it has raised an additional US$30 million on top of its last US$60M raise, from new investors including SoftBank Ventures Asia, government-linked global investor EDBI, Dietrich Foundation, NCORE Ventures. Hanwha Asset Management as well as existing investors including Insignia Ventures, B Capital Group, Singtel Innov8, Golden Gate Ventures and Alpha JWC. In just three years of operations, Carro has raised over US$100 million from investors.

The funding will be used to further its expansion across Southeast Asia, starting with its acquisition of Jualo.com; Indonesia’s leading C2C marketplace platform.

“Our acquisition of Jualo.com will further boost the reach of our proprietary technology platform in Southeast Asia; especially as Indonesia is the region’s largest automotive market,” said Aaron Tan, the CEO and Founder of Carro. “This also underscores our commitment to provide better automotive trading experiences to Indonesians and propels our growth in Southeast Asia.”

Founded in 2013, Jualo.com is Indonesia’s fastest-growing marketplace. The platform attracts over 4 million users per month and facilitated transactions worth over US$1 billion in 2018.

Jualo.com helps private and professional sellers trade new and used goods in over 300 categories including cars, motorcycles, property, fashion, electronics; as well as post job adverts. Jualo.com’s reach is extensive as it deals with goods being traded across all 34 of Indonesia’s provinces.

“We are very excited about this deal, as Carro is the market leader in trusted and transparent automobile trading in Southeast Asia.” said Pedro Principe, CEO of Jualo.com “Our business models are complementary in many aspects and this acquisition further drives our shared vision of empowering Indonesians with a safe and trusted marketplace.”

Over the past year, Carro has expanded aggressively in Indonesia and Thailand and is now present in over 30 cities across three countries. As part of its expansionary efforts from last year, the company has grown by 100 per cent month-on-month in both markets. Over 4,000 vehicles are transacted monthly on Carro in both Indonesia and Thailand, and tens of thousands of dealers have joined the Carro Wholesale network.

Carro also launched the first subscription-based car service in Singapore, with over 3,000 people on waitlist since it launched in March 2019. The service offers consumers the flexibility of selecting a plan and driving off with a car of their choice without the hassle of traditional car ownership. Carro rolled-out this innovative service to cater to today’s generation of drivers who wish to enjoy the convenience of owning a car without needing to worry about annual depreciation and unexpected expenses such as repairs, roadside assistance and insurance premiums.

Carro’s flexible subscription-based service is currently available in four plans: Daily, Roomy, Fancy and now Luxury. With the service, subscribers can pay a flat monthly fee that includes all costs associated with car ownership – such as insurance, road tax, warranty, 24-hour assistance, and maintenance costs. For added peace of mind, at the end of the term, customers can return the car with no questions asked about minor wear and tear, dents and scratches.

Carro is transforming car ownership through its 360-degree approach which includes buying and selling, financing, subscription, insurance, workshop and roadside assistance. To date, Carro’s forays across Southeast Asia include Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. The company is the region’s largest automotive marketplace – having transacted over US$500 million worth of cars in 2018.