Carousell Group Raises US$100 Million from STIC Investments to Accelerate Classifieds 4.0 in Greater Southeast Asia

“The pandemic has shown us that our mission to
inspire the world to start selling and buying secondhand is more relevant than
ever. People in the community are using our platforms to make more possible for
each other—through shared passions, making ends meet, affording what they need,
or simply because it is more sustainable. We believe that the accelerated
adoption of digital experiences is an opportunity for us to double down on our
recommerce efforts with a focus on convenience and trust, to unlock step-change
growth in our community,” said Quek Siu Rui, Co-founder and CEO of Carousell.
“STIC’s investment is a validation of our mission and strategic direction.
We’ll deepen our investments in recommerce across more categories and markets,
and will continue to seek opportunistic acquisitions in scaling up.”

“We have been monitoring Carousell as one of the
leading platforms in Greater Southeast Asia, and are excited to partner up with
a significant stake in its growth story,” said Jason Cho, Managing Director of
STIC Investments.  “Carousell continues to achieve tremendous user
growth as they transform the recommerce market, adding new features that are
focused on creating trusted marketplaces and enhancing overall user
experience.  We are highly confident that Carousell will be at the center
of the secondhand economy in this region at a time when an increasing number of
socio-economic and environmentally conscious consumers are shifting towards a
circular economy”. As part of the funding round, Mr. Cho will join the
Carousell Board of Directors.

Since its founding in 2012, the Group serves a
community of tens of millions of users across eight markets in Greater
Southeast Asia under the brands Carousell, Mudah.my, Cho Tot and OneKyat.
Carousell’s pioneering mobile-first approach reignited the classifieds space,
making selling and buying easier and proving to be an essential one-stop shop
across all categories.

“We have grown way beyond categories like
fashion, electronics and general goods,” said Siu Rui, “As the region becomes
more affluent, people want to enjoy the finer things in life. We are looking at
authentication capabilities for higher-value products, including luxury goods
and cars. Our goal is to make transacting in a secondhand marketplace as
convenient and trusted as any e-commerce platform so that secondhand can truly
be the first choice.”

This year alone, Carousell has piloted a
Certified Mobiles programme in Singapore, offering a 12-month warranty for used
mobile phones to offer users a like-new experience at secondhand prices, and
launched integrated shipping with PosLaju (the Malaysia national postal
service) to provide contactless transaction options for sellers and buyers
during the Movement Control Order. Carousell Auto Group, which was formed
earlier this year to leverage its regional leadership position in car
classifieds, has in a short period rolled out a Certified Autos programme in
Malaysia that achieved the largest inventory of certified cars in the country,
with other key markets to follow.

“We are grateful and privileged to have
investors, teammates and users who believe in our mission and our journey in
building a meaningful and enduring company,” Siu Rui added.