Southeast Asia-based C2B auction platform Carsome has picked up $6m in a funding round led by Gobi Partners.
Other investors to the round included Lumia Capital, Innoven, as well as existing shareholders 500 Startups and Spiral Ventures.
The company is an online used care platform, allowing customers to get a free valuation and inspection service, before it is listed on the platform for over 1,500 dealerships to bid on.
Carsome currently operates in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.
With this capital, Carsome hopes to expand regionally and increase the number of inspection outlets within the four countries.
Currently the company has five inspection locations, and hopes to double this by the end of the year.
Gobi Partners investment vice president Victor Chua said, “The C2B model that Carsome emphasizes on makes a lot of sense especially in emerging markets like Southeast Asia because there is not enough data that enables trust between consumers.
“Carsome provides a de-risking element for both sides of the equation – the sellers who are generally individuals and buyers who are dealers.
“Moving forward, we will be helping the company to look for more strategic partners and investors, to build on the strong fundamentals Carsome has.â€
This funding round brings the company’s total investments up to around $8.3m.
Since the company’s last investment it has increased its revenues by 12.5-times, with its annualised revenue now around $30m.
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