CARSOME, the largest integrated car e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia, has announced the successful completion of its latest fundraising round, resulting in a liquidity position of approximately US$200 million (~RM 924.5 million). This achievement strengthens confidence in the company's profitability goals and new ecosystem initiatives.
The fundraising round witnessed active participation from CARSOME's existing investors, including 65 Equity Partners, Seatown Private Capital Master Fund, Qatar Investment Authority, Gobi Partners, and Asia Partners. Additionally, a new investor, EvolutionX Debt Capital, provided a long-term debt facility. EvolutionX is a growth-stage debt financing platform that offers an alternative financing source to technology companies in Asia.
In 2022, CARSOME experienced a remarkable revenue growth of 250 percent, reaching USD 1.5 billion. The newly established CARSOME Certified, a regional retail line, contributed 35 percent to the total revenue. In Q1 2023, the company achieved operational profitability for the first time, driven by significant trade margin growth, which doubled compared to the same period the previous year.
A notable portion of the trade margin, over 80 percent, originated from transaction margins, indicating a substantial potential for additional revenue, particularly with the company's focus on ecosystem offerings such as Financing, Insurance, and Aftersales. CARSOME Service Centers (CSC), one of the aftersales services, has seen remarkable growth since its launch and is projected to have nationwide coverage in Malaysia by the end of Q3 2023.
CARSOME currently possesses the largest auto digital audience footprint, with over 15 million monthly active users across its content and media ecosystem, including iCar Asia and WapCar brands.
Furthermore, the company's ecosystem companies, operating as independent business units, have achieved over 30 percent revenue growth and contributed to a 60 percent reduction in the Group's Customer Acquisition Cost.
By unifying data throughout the ecosystem, CARSOME can offer personalized experiences and prioritize customer satisfaction, as demonstrated by its high Net Promoter Scores (NPS). As of Q1 2023, CARSOME Certified holds an NPS of 77 points within the used car industry, while the Group's wholesale business garnered an NPS of 75 points, indicating strong customer trust and satisfaction.
The launch of MyGarage within the CARSOME App represents a significant advancement in personalized car ownership experience. MyGarage serves as a comprehensive hub, offering real-time car valuations, service bookings, sales inspections, and will continue to integrate ancillary services such as Financing, Insurance, and Aftersales. This feature aligns with the company's mission of providing customers peace of mind throughout the entire lifecycle of their ownership experience.
Eric Cheng, CARSOME's co-founder and Group CEO, expressed gratitude to all investors for their continued confidence in the company's vision and capabilities, saying: “We have spent the last eight years building a more trusted way for customers to transact within Southeast Asia’s used car industry. Our comfortable liquidity position and strong backing from both existing and new investors place us on solid footing to deliver the world’s first integrated car ownership ecosystem, going beyond just buying and selling cars to include ancillary services across the whole ownership lifecycle. I wish to thank all our investors for their continued confidence in our vision and capabilities as we steer the company toward profitability as a group.”
Juliet Zhu, CARSOME's Group President and CFO, welcomed the new investor, EvolutionX, emphasising the importance of strategic partnerships in different stages of growth: “We’re delighted to have our new investor, EvolutionX, joining us at this stage of our growth. Profitability is just one of the milestones in our long-term capital planning, and we will continue to invite the right partners who can add strategic value at different stages of our growth.”
EvolutionX's investment in CARSOME marks its first in Southeast Asia. Rahul Shah, Partner of EvolutionX, highlighted their focus on supporting category-leading technology companies in Asia's core markets and expressed excitement about CARSOME's pursuit of profitability and sustainable growth.
CARSOME's innovative data and tech-driven approach has been reshaping Southeast Asia's used car industry, delivering trust, transparency, and choice to enhance the automotive ownership experience. With annual sales of over 150,000 cars and a vast customer base of more than 15 million unique monthly users, CARSOME is well-positioned for an exciting next chapter in its growth journey, leveraging its diverse online and offline channels in the region.
Keyword: CARSOME Completes Its Latest Financing Round Upon Achieving Operational Profitability