Today, Singapore classifieds platform Carousell has announced that it has raised US$85 million in Series C funding.
This round was co-led by Rakuten Ventures and EDBI, with participation from existing investors, 500 Startups, Golden Gate Ventures and Sequoia India, as well as new investor, DBS Bank.
This is also the largest reported Series C round raised in the classifieds space regionally.
With the new capital, Carousell will be moving towards even more product innovation “to reimagine classifieds in an AI-first world”.
Said Siu Rui Quek, Carousell co-founder and CEO, “In the past 6 years, we’ve gathered a lot more data, feedback and learnings about the problems and friction people face when buying and selling online. We are laser focused on solving these problems with technology and catering to local cultural norms and behaviours in Southeast Asia, while ultimately serving our core mission of inspiring everyone in the world to start selling.”
“The investment will enable us to continue building up our teams with top tier talent to accelerate our development of highly anticipated features, and more AI and machine learning capabilities.”
In conjunction with DBS Bank’s first-time investment in Carousell, both firms will be collaborating to offer financial products and payment services on Carousell’s platforms.
DBS Group CEO Piyush Gupta said, “DBS has been leveraging digital technology and innovation to seamlessly integrate banking into the lives of customers. We’re stepping up our participation in ecosystems, improving the customer journey and using data to inform our offerings. The investment in Carousell further builds on that.”
“As a strategic partner to Carousell, we can leverage on Carousell’s platforms to connect to its community both inside and outside of Singapore, and strengthen our next-generation proposition jointly with Carousell.”
Founded in 2012, Carousell has raised US$126.8 million in funding to date.
