Automotive e-commerce platform Carro has invested $30m in Malaysia-based used car marketplace MyTukar as part of a strategic partnership agreement, Vulcan Post has reported.
Founded in 2017, MyTukar runs an online marketplace in Malaysia that connects car owners to more than 1,500 dealerships interested in purchasing their vehicles to sell second-hand.
Each vehicle is inspected by one of MyTukar’s service agents for quality control purposes before the dealerships are invited to submit competitive bids. All purchases have six-month warranties provided one of MyTukar’s partners.
Carro also runs an online used car trading marketplace, but focuses on customer-to-customer sales rather than using dealerships as intermediaries, and offers auxiliary services such as roadside assistance, maintenance, repairs and financing.
The company will provide MyTukar’s affiliated car dealerships with access to its digitalisation technology to help expand their sales into more distant markets. MyTukar has not disclosed details of its earlier funding.
Carro’s investment is part of an expansion drive across Southeast Asia mounted in the wake of it closing its series B round at $90m last month and acquiring Indonesia-based e-commerce marketplace Jualo.
Investors in Carro include SoftBank Ventures Asia, a subsidiary of telecommunications firm SoftBank; Singtel Innov8, the corporate venturing arm of telecoms firm Singapore Telecommunications; and Hanwha Asset Management, a division of conglomerate Hanwha.