The S$75 million multi-currency loan diversifies Carro’s funding channel, particularly in Malaysia
SINGAPORE startup Carro announced on Thursday (Jun 20) that it signed a S$75 million multi-currency loan with HSBC, making the home-grown company the first to tap HSBC’s Asean Growth Fund of US$1 billion.
The loan will be used to fund Genie Financial Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Carro that provides automotive financing in Singapore Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.
Carro reported over 11 times year-on-year earnings before interest, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) growth to hit a record US$34 million, based on its latest financial year ended Mar 31, 2024.
The Singapore-based online used car marketplace, which currently operates in seven markets, previously raised over S$700 million from SoftBank Vision Fund and several sovereign funds.
“Securing this landmark financing from HSBC is a huge validation of our digital ecosystem-led business model. This enables us to serve the underserved consumer segment even better,” said Aaron Tan, co-founder and chief executive officer of Carro.
Ernest Chew, chief financial officer of Carro, added: “This significantly strengthens our balance sheet and diversifies our funding channel particularly in Malaysia, so that we can focus on growing our business more effectively.”
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HSBC announced the launch of the US$1 billion Asean Growth Fund in March 2024. The fund aims to support high-growth companies by providing working capital to help them achieve economies of scale and grow their asset base.
“Asean’s booming digital economy has so much potential for growth as the region’s digitally native working population consumes more goods and services online,” said Amanda Murphy, head of commercial banking, South and South-east Asia, HSBC.
