Malaysia-based automotive e-commerce platform Carsome has completed a $50m series C round featuring MUFG Innovation Partners, a subsidiary of financial services firm Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, TechCrunch reported yesterday.
The round included Daiwa PI Partners, which invests on behalf of securities brokerage Daiwa Securities, as well as Endeavor Catalyst, Ondine Capital, Gobi Partners and Convergence Ventures.
Carsome runs an online platform where customers wanting to sell a vehicle can connect to dealers across Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand who bid or them through an online auction process. The company’s staff conduct checks on each car that is submitted and manages the payment process.
Eric Cheng, Carsome’s co-founder and CEO, told TechCrunch: “We want to establish a brand and a standard that advocates trust, transparency, consistency of service and quality assurance across the region that people and businesses can rely on to make their purchasing decisions.”
The capital will fund expansion across Southeast Asia, in markets that will include the Philippines. Carsome has now raised $85m in total, according to TechCrunch.
Burda Principal Investments, the corporate venturing arm of media company Hubert Burda, led Carsome’s last round, a $19m series B in March 2018 that also featured Gobi Partners, Lumia Capital and InnoVen Capital.
The company’s earlier investors include IMG Investment Partners, 500 Startups, Spiral Ventures and Idea River Run in addition to Gobi Partners, InnoVen and Lumia Capital.
