Mobile marketplace Carousell has just raised SGD1 million worth of seed funding in an effort inspire 610 million Southeast Asians to start selling stuff with their smartphones.
The round was led by Rakuten and includes 500 Startups, Golden Gate Ventures, as well as angels Danny Oei Wirianto and Darius Cheng.
Carousell, which right now enjoys what it calls “high stickiness” in that their users open the app 10 times and spend at least 25 minutes on it daily, will work first on setting up teams in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Said Sae Min Ahn, managing partner of Rakuten’s investment arm, “There is an entire generation of Internet users that will leapfrog the desktop computer and come online through the smartphone. The first apps they are going to use are the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. If they wanted to buy or sell something online, they are going to expect an experience that is equally simple, intuitive and fun to use. Carousell is in the best position to fill that need.”
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