Buying a used car in Southeast Asia used to be a nightmare.
No price transparency. Shady dealers. Zero financing options for most buyers.
Aaron Tan saw this mess and built Carro in 2015, an entire car ownership ecosystem. Buy, sell, insure, finance, service. All in one place.
The result? Over $600M raised from SoftBank Vision Fund and sovereign funds, 7 markets, 4,500+ staff across Asia Pacific.
Here’s what makes Carro interesting for automotive and manufacturing folks:
Their latest $60M round came from Cool Japan Fund, specifically to promote Japanese plug-in hybrids and fuel cell vehicles across Asia Pacific.
A Singapore startup is now the distribution layer for Japanese advanced automotive tech in emerging markets. Traditional OEM dealer networks didn’t see that coming.
Singapore’s auto sector has pulled in $806M in VC funding over the last decade. Carro holds most of it, and an IPO is on the horizon.
The lesson? The car isn’t the product anymore. The platform around it is.
What’s your take, will software platforms replace OEM dealership networks in Asia?
