In an interview with NYSE FloorTalk, Carsome Co-Founder and CEO Eric Cheng and Group CFO Juliet Zha, have expressed the company’s intentions of expanding its services in the region and revealed plans to list the company in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) within the next two to three years.

This comes shortly after Carsome secured its Series D funding round amounting to $30 million led by Asia Partners. The fund is being used by the company to expand beyond Malaysia and establish a presence in other Southeast Asian markets as well.

Carsome is a Malaysia-based automotive e-commerce platform. It aims to change the used car trading landscape by automating processes and giving customers an overall easier time while they transact. With its end-to-end business platform, it is able to take care of everything from car inspection, ownership transfer, and financing. Carsome even determines proper rates through a pricing algorithm.

The company has an inclusive approach with its operations–rather than directly compete with incumbent dealerships, its business model involves partnering with used car dealerships, enhancing their operations through technology.

Since its founding in 2015, Carsome has changed the used car trading market in Southeast Asia. Its digital platform addresses different pain points in the decades-old industry. It zeroes in on customer experience and makes sure that it can give both sellers and buyers hassle-free procedures to go through. They utilize an accurate pricing algorithm to make sure that all parties are satisfied.

Cheng mentioned that some of the biggest hurdles of the used car market are transparency and the amount of effort and paperwork needed to fulfill a transaction. Aside from the hidden fees that appear with each transaction, the traditional customer experience for car owners looking to sell their car and used car buyers contain some pretty difficult, confusing, and even varying steps.

Selling a car could take months and prices will vary from each dealership that you go to. When you buy a used car, information is hard to come by, and listing expectations are usually not met after seeing the actual unit. Carsome’s platform aims to address all of these pain points by providing an end-to-end service that reduces transactional friction and improves transparency.

Juliet Zha also mentioned how the company is capitalizing on how the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated digital adoption all over the world. She explained how it took more than 10 years for digital to achieve a 3 percent market share in retail. In 2020 alone, she claims it has now gone up to 6 percent.

As shared by 500 Startups, an early backer of Carsome, the company has a big potential to grow in their industry. Cheng explained in the interview that Southeast Asia has a population of 600 million and around 55 million cars. This leaves the region with less than 10 percent owning a vehicle. Carsome is currently selling an annualized 70,000 cars with over $600 million in transaction value. With none of the players in the industry taking more than 1 percent market share, Carsome is confident that there is more than enough room to expand and reach its goal of listing in the NYSE.

Watch the interview here: