Internet group Naver led an $80m funding round for Singapore-based online classified listings portal Carousell yesterday valuing it at more than $900m post-money.
The round also featured securities brokerage NH Investment & Securities and Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund, a vehicle formed by Naver and investment firm Mirae Asset Daewoo.
Founded in 2012, Carousell runs an online platform where consumers can list and sell second-hand items. Users can follow their favourite sellers, join groups built around similar interests such as photography or sneakers and pay to increase the visibility of their products.
The company is active in eight countries across Southeast Asia and also operates a car financing service called Revo Financial. The funding will support further improvements to its marketplace.
Naver’s head of investments, Jung An Lee, said: “Carousell has built a tremendous platform enabling people in the region to transact more effectively and efficiently.
“We believe its efforts to focus on the products and the community will be further consolidating its market leader position. We highly look forward to working closely with Carousell.”
Carousell has now raised $263m in funding altogether. It previously received $56m in funding from OLX Group, an online marketplace subsidiary of e-commerce and media group Naspers, in April 2019.
The company secured $85m in a mid-2018 series C round co-led by Rakuten Ventures, a corporate venturing arm of e-commerce firm Rakuten, and Singapore state-owned investment vehicle EDBI, that included financial services provider DBS, 500 Startups, Golden Gate Ventures and Sequoia India.
Rakuten Ventures had previously led Carousell’s $35m series B round in 2016, investing with 500 Startups, Sequoia Capital and Golden Gate Ventures.
The unit had already taken part in a $6m series A round in 2014 that was led by Sequoia and backed by 500 Startups, Golden Gate Ventures and Darius Cheung, all three of which had joined Rakuten Ventures in an $800,000 seed round the year before.
