KUALA LUMPUR: Carsome Group Inc, an integrated car-ecommerce platform, has announced the completion of its funding round, bringing the platform's financial position to around US$200 million or RM923 million.
Carsome's previous investors, such as 65 Equity Partners, Seatown Private Capital Master Fund, Qatar Investment Authority, Gobi Partners, and Asia Partners, participated in the investment round.
In a statement today, Carsome said it also managed to secure a long-term lending facility from a new investor, EvolutionX lending Capital (EvolutionX), a growth-stage debt financing firm that offers an alternative form of finance to Asian technology companies.
"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," Carsome co-founder and group chief executive officer Eric Cheng said.
Carsome's revenue increased by 250 per cent to US$1.5 billion last year (FY22), with the new regional retail line Carsome Certified accounting for 35 per cent of total revenue.
The company's trade margin almost doubled in the first quarter this year (1Q23) compared with the previous year, with transaction margins representing 80 per cent of the total and indicating significant potential for additional revenue through ecosystem offerings like financing, insurance, and aftersales.