Carousell raises another S$47m to broaden horizons

SINGAPORE – Online marketplace Carousell on Monday (Aug 1) said it raised US$35 million (S$46.9 million) in its series B funding round, a move that will help the homegrown start-up accelerate its international growth plans and strengthen its position in the mobile classifieds space.

Launched in May 2012, Carousell is a mobile app that lists items for sale by letting sellers upload pictures of their products and allowing buyers who are interested to message them to inquire more about the items.  

In 2013, Carousell received about S$1 million in seed investment, and followed this up with US$6 million in its series A funding the following year. 

In total, the tech company has received about US$41.8 million in funding to date.

“The additional capital will accelerate Carousell’s growth into new markets around the world and bolster its product and engineering teams, strengthening its position as one of the largest and fastest growing mobile classifieds marketplaces,” the company said on Monday. 

Carousell’s co-founder and CEO Quek Siu Rui said: “We most recently launched in Hong Kong in June 2016. As of now, we are in 13 major cities (Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Penang, Taipei, Tainan, Taoyuan, Taichung, Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Jakarta, Bandung, Hong Kong). We are finalising the selection of our next markets and will keep everyone posted.”

Led by Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten Ventures, along with Sequoia India, Golden Gate Ventures and 500 Startups, the funding is one of the largest reported series B rounds in the mobile classifieds space, Carousell said.

The start-up, which started with only five people four years ago, has since grown to over 90 employees globally. Carousell recently recruited Mr Chai Jia Jih — formerly Airbnb’s managing director of South-east Asia — as its vice-president, international, to spearhead the company’s global expansion plans.

The company sees itself as a community marketplace, where people can buy, sell and interact. For example, in Singapore, the group has over 100 Carousell Groups for PokemonGo fanatics, die-hard Lego fans, comic collectors, and even ‘‘sneakerheads’’.

Carousell currently has no plans for an initial public offering (IPO).

“There are no plans to go public at present as Carousell is focused on improving our product and growing our global presence. We want to concentrate our efforts on building the simplest and most inspiring community marketplace, where people can buy, sell, and connect with one another,” Mr Quek said.