Carsome: Here's how we raised US$19 mil in our Series B funding

Car trading online platform Carsome announced that it has raised US$19 million in Series B funding.

The company is supported by a mix of strong local and global investors based in Europe, China, USA, Japan and Singapore. Leading this round is Burda Principal Investments, with existing investors Gobi Partners, InnoVen Capital and Lumia Capital following on.

Carsome currently has operations in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand.

According to Carsome founder and CEO, Eric Cheng, the funds will be used to scale and deepen Carsome's foothold in Indonesia and Thailand – the region's largest automotive markets with over 3.6 million used car transactions annually.

Cheng explains that the new funds will help Carsome to advance its ambitions to be the 'new default way' of selling used cars within the region.

"Currently, Southeast Asia's used car industry – estimated to be valued at over US$30 billion yearly – is still highly fragmented, inefficient and lacks transparency.

"Carsome takes on these problems by providing a seamless and transparent online used car selling process; one that provides users an easier way to sell their cars to dealers nationwide in a fast, fair and free manner," said Cheng.

He added that Carsome's monthly total transaction value has increased by more than four-fold since January 2017.

Total car sales facilitated on its platform have more than quadrupled with more than 70 percent of the transactions being done inter-city, which is a strong testament to the value proposition and product fit of Carsome's business model.

They have also grown their staff strength to over 150 in all four operating countries to cater for the rapid expansion of their business.