Month: September 2021

Source: The Edge Markets

Malaysia finally saw its first unicorn, which refers to a start-up valued at more than US$1 billion (RM4.2 billion), emerge in July when Carsome obtained the coveted status.

Finally, Malaysia can take its eyes off Grab, the one that famously got away when it moved across the Causeway in 2014. But this is just the beginning. The Digital Economy Blueprint, which was released last year, aims to attract five Malaysia-based unicorns by 2030.

It is worthwhile, therefore, to trace how Carsome achieved its current success and consider whether it can be replicated.

To do this, Digital Edge looked at Carsome’s history and spoke to well-known individuals in the ecosystem to understand what it did right.

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Source: Digital News Asia

Multimedia University (MMU) has signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement with venture capital firm, Vynn Capital to strengthen the startup ecosystem and enhancing the development of entrepreneurship among students.

In a statement, Mazliham Mohd. Su’ud, president of MMU said that the move was in line with the university’s goal of helping transform society through innovation.

“At MMU, we have seen first-hand that the younger generations can be very adept at leveraging the startup and entrepreneurship ecosystem. This is essential in creating more jobs in society, and will eventually bolster national economic development.”

He said the ecosystem will open up new business opportunities for the younger generations, which will address unemployment issues among graduates.

“As educators, we are aware that many of our students are already on this path and therefore believe that it is key to introduce our students to world-class entrepreneurship. From there, student have the option to adopt entrepreneurship and become job creators,” said Mazliham.

Through the MoU, MMU and Vynn Capital will explore areas of cooperation and business development and provide students and alumni with mentorship opportunities.

It will also prepare startups for investment and equity funding and explore the development of venture capital-related curriculum, MMU said.

“MMU has a good reputation in the industry for nurturing entrepreneurs and we are excited to be part of that experience.

“Based on its track record, we are confident that MMU and its students are capable of developing solid business enterprises with long-term potential,” said Victor Chua, founding and managing partner of Vynn Capital.

“As a venture capitalist, we think that it’s only natural for us to be in the picture from the very beginning as we believe that entrepreneurial culture can be nurtured through collaborative efforts between the education sector and the business world,” he added.

Through working with universities like MMU, it is empowering entrepreneurs and youth with capital and hands-on experience, Chua said.

Chua added that Vynn Capital will launch more initiatives to empower the education sector, thus enabling MMU and other institutions to get deeper into the entrepreneurship and venture capital industry.

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Source: Reuters

Southeast Asian used-car marketplace Carsome Group said it has raised $170 million in a funding round from investors including Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek (2454.TW), cementing its position as Malaysia’s largest tech unicorn, valued at $1.3 billion.

The valuation comes as Southeast Asian startups are attracting strong interest from regional and global funds, driven by robust growth rates, as investors take bets on post-pandemic plays.

“The most important thing we are trying to tackle is the distrust that’s associated with the used-car industry,” said Carsome’s co-founder and chief executive, Eric Cheng, adding that consumers were becoming more open to buying cars online during lockdowns imposed in countries over the past year.

Six-year-old Carsome’s competitors include SoftBank Vision Fund 2-backed Carro and OLX Auto in Indonesia, part of OLX Group, which runs global trading platforms.

Cheng said Carsome, which also operates in Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore, has been ramping up its retail centres and expanding its offerings, which include a five-day refund policy and a one-year warranty.

Carsome is looking to almost treble its revenue to nearly $1 billion this year from last year and expects to turn profitable on an operating level in 2022, its chief financial officer, Juliet Zhu, told Reuters.

It had raised a total of more than $100 million in its previous funding rounds.

Zhu said Carsome is considering listing in the United States within the next 12 months and is in talks with sponsors of blank check companies.

“We have always been envisaging ourselves to be listing on U.S. exchanges,” Cheng said, citing comparable valuations with U.S.-listed car marketplaces available for investors.

Backed by the likes of Asian venture capital firm Gobi Partners and an arm of Mitsubishi UFG Financial Group (8306.T), Carsome will use the funds to extend its spate of acquisitions.

This year, it acquired a stake in a Jakarta-based car and motorcycle auction service and agreed a deal with Australia-listed iCar Asia (ICQ.AX), which offers listing sites in Southeast Asia.

Carsome said one of the largest sovereign wealth funds from the region joined the latest funding, but it declined to identify the fund. Carsome also secured new credit facilities of $30 million. Rothschild & Co is the financial adviser on the fund raising.

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