Carmudi raises $25M for Phl operations

MANILA, Philippines - Online vehicle marketplace Carmudi has raised $25 million to strengthen operations in the Philippines and other markets in Asia and Latin America.

According to Carmudi, the funds were raised from investors such as Asia Pacific Internet Group (joint venture of Rocket Internet and Ooredoo), Holtzbrinck Ventures and Tengelmann Ventures.

 “This funding will be crucial in boosting our operations in Asia and Latin America. Our goal is to be the No.1 car classified platform in all our markets,” Stefan Haubold, co-founder and global managing director at Carmudi said.

The firm is investing further as it looks to tap over 300 million active Internet users and provide them the best experience in shopping for cars online.

Haubold said part of the raised funds would be invested to support its operations in the Philippines which is considered to be one of its key markets in Asia.

 “We truly believe in the Philippines market and will invest in it to become the No. 1 website for any car related topic,” he said.

He noted that there is potential in Philippine market given its 100 million population with over 30 percent already online.

 “Undeniably, Philippines has the fastest growing Internet population,” he said.

Carmudi serves as an online marketplace for buyers, sellers and dealers of cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles.

Launched in October 2013, Carmudi is part of the Rocket Internet portfolio which is also behind other online sites such as Lazada and Zalora.

Aside from the Philippines, it is available in countries like Bangladesh, Cameroon, Congo, Ghana, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia,Senegal, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and Zambia.

The platform currently has authentic listings of over 300,000 vehicles for its users globally.