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Carro starts preparations for IPO

written by Bella Palmer
ipos

Consumers and wholesale businesses use Carro's platform to buy and sell vehicles

Singapore-headquartered Carro, a Southeast Asian online automotive marketplace, said on Tuesday it has raised $360 million in its latest funding round, becoming the region's latest unicorn. The funding round was led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.

The valuation for the company is well over a billion dollars, CEO and founder of Carro, Aaron Tan, told Reuters. He did not provide a specific number.

Carro will use the fresh capital to expand into new locations and grow its business in its existing markets which include Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. It also plans to expand its portfolio of financial services and accelerate development of AI capabilities.

Consumers and wholesale businesses use Carro's platform to buy and sell vehicles along with availing insurance and financing services.

Other investors in the new round of financing include several prominent Indonesian based funds including EV Growth, it said.

Carro has raised over $400 million in equity and $200 million in debt since being founded in 2015. Its previous investors include SoftBank Ventures Asia, EDBI Pte, Insignia Ventures Partners and B Capital Group.

The company has started preparing internally for an initial public offering (IPO), Tan said.

The plan is to IPO the company, hopefully, in the next 18-24 months in the U.S., depending on whether the market holds, he said.

Carro is now benefiting from users shifting to online transactions after seeing initial decline in business due to the pandemic.

People are more willing to buy vehicles entirely online without the need to visit a showroom, he said.

Carro booked revenues of $300 million for the year ending March 2021 and has registered positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) for two years.

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