Southeast Asia's Craigslist meets Depop. Carousell is a mobile-first classifieds marketplace where anyone can buy and sell anything — from second-hand sneakers to cars to apartments. 250+ million listings across Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia, and more. In a region where Facebook Marketplace dominates and eBay barely exists, Carousell became the default platform for buying and selling used stuff. Built by three NUS students who wanted to make selling things as easy as taking a photo.
Founded
2012
HQ
Singapore
Total Raised
$290 million
Founder
Quek Siu Rui, Lucas Ngoo, Marcus Tan
Status
Private
Website
www.carousell.comTHE ORIGIN STORY
Quek Siu Rui, Lucas Ngoo, and Marcus Tan were students at the National University of Singapore who noticed there was no good way to sell second-hand items in Southeast Asia. Gumtree and local classifieds were clunky desktop sites.
In 2012, they built Carousell as a mobile app where listing something for sale takes 30 seconds — snap a photo, set a price, post. The simplicity went viral in Singapore.
Within a year, the app had more listings than all other classifieds in Singapore combined.
WHAT THEY ACTUALLY DO
Classifieds marketplace. Sellers list items for free.
Carousell makes money through: promoted listings (sellers pay to boost visibility), CarouBiz (premium tools for business sellers), Carousell Media (advertising), and transaction fees on certain categories (cars, property). The platform also earns from Carousell Protection (an escrow payment service).
THE PRODUCTS
Carousell Marketplace — buy and sell anything from phones to furniture. Carousell Cars — used car marketplace.
Carousell Property — rental and property listings. CarouBiz — tools for business sellers.
Carousell Protection — escrow-based secure payments.
HOW THEY GREW
Mobile-first in a mobile-first region. Southeast Asia skipped desktop internet — most people went online through smartphones.
Carousell was built mobile-first from day one, which gave it a massive advantage over desktop classifieds. They also acquired OLX Philippines, Mudah Malaysia, and other local classifieds to consolidate market share across the region.
THE HARD PART
Monetizing free classifieds is hard. Most users expect to list and sell for free.
Converting them to paid features (promoted listings, business tools) requires proving clear ROI. Competition from Facebook Marketplace (free, built into Facebook) is a constant threat.
The unit economics of classifieds — low transaction value, high user volume — require scale to work.
MONEY TRAIL
Seed
2013 · Led by Rakuten Ventures
$800K raised
Series B
2016 · Led by Rakuten Ventures
$35M raised
Series C
2019 · Led by Naver
$56M raised
Series D
2021 · Led by STIC Investments
$100M raised
$1.1B valuation
WHO BACKED THEM
Temasek, Rakuten Ventures, Sequoia India, STIC Investments, and Naver invested. The $100M Series D in 2021 was led by STIC.
Carousell also merged with 701Search (media classified business) in 2019.
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