eCommerce

Malaysia’s Carsome acquires majority stake in Singapore integrated automotive firm CarTimes Automobile

Malaysia-based integrated car e-commerce platform Carsome Group Pte Ltd (Carsome) announced Thursday the acquisition of 51 percent stake in Singapore integrated automotive firm CarTimes Automobile Pte Ltd (CarTimes). Carsome said the acquisition is an important move that further strengthens its market leadership in the region, and reinforces its commitment…

Malaysia’s Carsome buys 51% stake in Singapore used car dealer CarTimes for $60M – report

The news comes as Carsome is said to be preparing for an initial public offering in the US later of the year.

Rainforest’s Per-Ola Röst on innovating microbrands through centralized, seamless, cross-border fulfillment [Q&A]

"Operating microbrands in SEA today is a complex venture from an operational perspective. Compared with Amazon’s PAN-EU fulfillment program -- allowing brands to unlock the entire EU market, offering two-day delivery time to a few hundred million consumers. The program is also fully automated for the brand - from moving stock between countries to storage…

Singapore’s ShipsKart raises $2.7M Series A funding led by TMV and Hermes Offshore

Shipskart has closed an oversubscribed $2.7 million Series A to bring one of the maritime and offshore industry’s most analogue processes, the procurement of essential vessel supplies, online. The round was led by TMV and Hermes Offshore, with strategic investments from the likes of Motion Ventures, Tradeworks.vc and Eternia Investments. The fresh injection…

Hong Kong’s Kicks Crew raises $6M in Series A funding led by Gobi Partners and Pacific Century Group

Kicks Crew announced Wednesday the closing of $6 million in Series A funding led by Gobi Partners and Pacific Century Group. The capital raised will assist in strengthening the company's foothold in the United States market, attract talent across engineering, product, and marketing teams, and introduce a headquarters in Los Angeles.

Carsome appoints Digbijoy Shukla as Head of M&A, Ecosystem Strategy

Carsome Group (Carsome) has appointed Digbijoy Shukla as its Head of Merger and Acquisition and Ecosystem Strategy. In this new role, Shukla’s key responsibility is to develop an end-to-end ecosystem strategy for Carsome to ensure a seamless experience throughout the automotive ownership journey. It includes staying close to the automotive ecosystem in…

Prosus Ventures and Tiger Global lead $50M Series C investment in India’s Captain Fresh

Captain Fresh has raised $50 million in a Series C investment round co-led by Prosus Ventures and Tiger Global, both existing investors. Other participants in this round also included existing investors Accel India, Matrix Partners India, Ankur Capital, and Incubate Fund.

Singapore e-commerce enabler Zaapi raises $4.5M seed investment led by GFC, Flourish Ventures, and Partech

Zaapi has raised a $4 million seed investment in the current round of funding. Prominent venture capital investors, including Global Founders Capital (GFC), Flourish Ventures, and Partech, led the investment. Other institutional investors in the round include 1982 Ventures, Kaya Founders, Iterative, XA Network, and Sketchnote Partners/Invertidos.

Sea Ltd’s Shopee exits France months after entering Europe – report

France was one of the most significant new markets for Sea, which has been embarking on an aggressive international push last year to drive growth beyond Southeast Asia.

Convergence between marketplaces & social media will continue in e-commerce, says Intrepid CEO Jasper Knoben [ORIGIN Innovation Awards Q&A]

In the interview, Knoben also shared what are the challenges faced by startups or innovators in this post-pandemic environment and Intrepid’s strategies to address these challenges.