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Carsome Group (Carsome), based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is an integrated car e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia [1]. It is recognized as Malaysia’s first technology unicorn after announcing the closure of its US$170 million Series D2 round of funding in September 2021. Carsome currently operates in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore, with the aim to digitise the region’s used car industry by reshaping, as well as elevating the way consumers sell and buy used cars.

History
Founded as a car comparison website, Carsome was founded by Eric Cheng and Teoh Jiun Ee in 2015 as a car comparison website in Malaysia [5] with US$350,000 seed funding. It later evolved into a used car selling platform, where customers were able to sell their used cars through a trusted, convenient, and fast process at Carsome’s Inspection Centers. This introduced Carsome’s 175-point inspection, where the inspector will annotate various notes about the car’s condition and appearance to generate a price.

Seed funding and expansion
In 2016, Carsome raised US$2million in Series A funding [8], and Carsome Singapore commenced business. That same year, the start-up passed the mark of having 1,000 cars transacted annually. In 2017, Carsome raised a further US$6million in Series A2 funding, and expanded operations to Indonesia, as well as Thailand. The company went on to raise US$19 million in Series B and US$8 million in Series B2 funding, while recording 10,000 cars transacted annually the subsequent year. Additionally, Carsome established Carsome Capital in 2019 as a financial arm offering advice and solutions, as well as applying for financing, insurance and other related services.

Carsome later secured additional Series C funding of US$50 million in 2019, and managed to achieve a total of 40,000 cars in annual transactions. In 2020, Carsome raised an additional US$30 million in Series D funding, while also achieving US$170 million in Series D2 funding the next year.

Launch of business-to-consumer (B2C) segment
In 2020, Carsome launched a separate B2C vertical that is a digitised process dubbed as ‘The New Way of Buying Cars’, in Malaysia. Carsome Certified cars were then introduced where all cars listed come with a Carsome Promise, which means all cars have passed the 175-point inspection, has a fixed price with no hidden fees, one-year warranty, and a five-day money-back guarantee. Carsome Certified later expanded to Thailand and Indonesia operations in 2021.

In 2020, Carsome was the first to sell used cars on Shopee, while also securing their 100,000th seller, and raised US$30 million in Series D funding. The company also opened the flagship Carsome Experience Center in Kuala Lumpur to drive “The New Way of Buying Cars” where consumers can test drive cars and go through the online shopping experience.

In 2021, Carsome set up a Data Center of Excellence to further revolutionise the used car industry through digitalisation and using data to power its business in all stages [19]. The company went on to achieve the status of Malaysia’s first technology unicorn after a US$170 million funding round boosted its valuation to US$1.3billion. Currently, Carsome records 100,000 cars transacted annually.

Carsome Academy
In 2021, Carsome Academy was set up as the education arm of Carsome and appointed as an accredited Recognition of Prior Achievement (RPK) center, recognized by Malaysia’s Department of Skills Development, also known as Jabatan Pembangunan Kemahiran (JPK).

As a Sistem Latihan Dual Nasional (SLDN) training center, Carsome Academy offers institutional and workplace training at any Carsome Inspection Centers in Malaysia [22]. Graduates are awarded the Malaysian Skills Certificate (SKM) Level 3 in Motor Vehicle Inspection, a certification recognized by Malaysian technical industries. Carsome Academy graduates are then offered a placement to work in Carsome [23]. Carsome Academy is also an accredited Recognition for Prior Achievement (Pusat Pengiktirafan Pencapaian Terdahulu, PPT) test center for experienced technical workers who want to obtain the SKM Level 3 in Motor Vehicle Inspection.

Sponsorships and acquisition
Carsome entered a motorsports sponsorship through the 2021 Thailand Super Series, sponsoring the B-Quik Absolute Racing Team Car #1, and the Audi R8 LMS Evolution driven by Sandy Stuvik. Carsome Indonesia also acquired an all equity stake in PT Universal Collection, which is a Jakarta-based car and motorcycle auction service.

Awards and Recognition
In 2021, Carsome ranked 16th in FT Asia-Pacific High-Growth Companies in 2021. Both Cheng and Teoh nabbed a joint win as SME & Entrepreneurs Business Awards’ Technopreneur of the Year in 2021, while Carsome was also recognized Southeast Asia Disruptors in Boom21 by Wild Digital 2021. Cheng also won the EY Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year 2020 [29].