Carousell raises US$100m, enters unicorn club at US$1.1b valuation

Sep 15, 2021

SINGAPORE-BASED online classifieds startup Carousell has raised US$100 million in a funding round led by South Korean private equity firm STIC, thus becoming the city-state's latest unicorn.

The fundraising, said to bring Carousell's valuation to US$1.1 billion, is a step up from the US$900 million at which it was valued during its previous round last year. This funding round could pave the way for a listing in the United States through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), which the company was said to be considering earlier, Bloomberg reported.

Fresh funds will be used to "deepen its investments" across more categories of pre-owned goods and markets, as well as to explore acquisitions to scale up the business.

Founded in 2012, Carousell has a presence in eight markets across South-east Asia. Its growing investor list includes names such as Telenor Group, Rakuten Ventures, Naver and Sequoia Capital India. The startup said it currently has "tens of millions" of monthly active users.