Singapore-based Carro has raised US$360 million in a Series C funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, making it the first automotive marketplace unicorn in Southeast Asia. The company provides a full-stack service for all aspects of car ownership and uses artificial intelligence-powered technology to transform the car buying and selling experience. It has pioneered innovative services such as Singapore’s first contactless car purchase service, first car subscription service and the first region-wide behaviour and usage-based car insurance.

Founder and chief executive officer Aaron Tan says: “This is a huge milestone for us. We are grateful for the strong support from our investors, which reaffirms our belief in the transformative power of AI in the automotive industry to deliver exceptional customer experience. As digitalization shapes the global landscape through new consumer habits and business practices, it is a very exciting time for an end-to-end online car marketplace like Carro.”

The firm closed its financial year ending March 2021 with over a 2.5x growth in revenue and continues to record positive Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) for the second year running.  It reached US$1 billion in annualized gross merchandise value run-rate in May.

Carro will use the funds to strengthen its market position and expand its retail offering across Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore – markets that have seen significant growth in the past year. It also intends to enhance its portfolio of financial services by expanding beyond in-house loan financing, as well as accelerate the development of its artificial intelligence capabilities.

SoftBank first invested in Carro through SoftBank Ventures Asia, its venture capital arm, in 2016 and has continued to support the firm’s growth.

Other investors in the latest funding round include several prominent Indonesian-based funds such as EV Growth.