What is Carousell? Carousell Review

Carousell is a C2C platform based on smartphones and web pages that allows consumers and buyers to buy or sell new and second-hand products. It is known as the Southeast Asian version of Xianyu.

About Carousell

Carousell is headquartered in Singapore and operates in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia.

Carousell currently has Apple and Android mobile apps.

Luxury fashion + brands such as Chanel, Celine, Hermès, LV (Louis Vuitton) and Gucci are the most searched keywords by female users on Carousell, with a transaction rate of 14% in the third quarter of 2018.

In 2018, Carousell became a household name in Singapore, with more than 200 full-time employees. The platform has more than 150 million listings for sale, and the cumulative sales volume in the seven major markets is 50 million.

Development History

- Carousell was founded in Singapore on May 14, 2012 by Ngee Ann Polytechnic graduates Quek Siu Rui, Daniel Balakrishnan, Lucas Ngoo and Marcus Tan. The first item sold on Carousell was an Amazon Kindle e-reader.

-On January 2, 2013, Carousell was subsequently registered as Carousell Pte. Ltd. In the same month, ST Classifieds, a subsidiary of Singapore Press Holdings, announced a partnership with Carousell.

-In November 2013, Rakuten invested US$1 million in Carousell with follow-on investments from Golden Gate Ventures, 500 Startups, and a few other investors.

-In November 2014, Carousell announced a $6 million investment from Sequoia India.

In August 2016, Carousell raised $35 million in its Series B funding round from Rakuten Ventures, Sequoia India, Golden Gate Ventures, and 500 Startups.

-As of 2016, Carousell has sold over 23 million items, and users have created over 57 million new and used items for sale.

-In May 2018, Carousell raised $85 million in Series C funding. The round was co-led by existing investors Rakuten Ventures and EDBI. Other participants included 500 Startups, Golden Gate Ventures, and Sequoia India, as well as new investor DBS.