Carousell was founded in Singapore on 14 May 2012, by co-founders Quek Siu Rui, Lucas Ngoo, and Marcus Tan. The first item sold on Carousell was an Amazon Kindle e-reader for S$75. Carousell was subsequently registered as Carousell Pte. Ltd. on 2 January 2013. Carousell received its first investment from Quest Ventures. In November 2013, Rakuten, with follow-on investments by Golden Gate Ventures, 500 Startups, and a few other investors invested $1 million in Carousell. Subsequently, in November 2014, Carousell announced that it received US$6 million in investment from Sequoia India. In August 2016, Carousell raised $35 million in their Series B funding round by Rakuten Ventures, Sequoia India, Golden Gate Ventures, and 500 Startups. In October 2016, Carousell acquired Singaporean mobile-first used car marketplace and dealership tool Caarly. As of 2016, over 23 million items had been sold on Carousell and users had created over 57 million listings of new and used items for sale. Carousell has expanded regionally to seven countries, including Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Taiwan. However, Carousell's expansion into Taiwan faces competition against headstart companies like Yahoo! and Ruten, which are already settled in the e-commerce market. In April 2019, Carousell acquired OLX Philippines after receiving an investment from Naspers. The company raised $85 million Series C funding in May 2018. The round was co-led by existing investor Rakuten Ventures and EDBI. Other participants included 500 Startups, Golden Gate Ventures and Sequoia India as well as new investor DBS.
Partnerships and collaborations
In January 2013, Singapore Press Holdings' ST Classifieds announced its collaboration with Carousell. According to a Yahoo Finance article in August 2013, Carousell announced its partnership with Singapore Press Holdings Magazines, a subsidiary of SPH, to create a mobile app called SheShops Marketplace, selling fashion and beauty items. On 21 June 2018, Carousell announced its partnership with DBS Holdings, Stripe and VISA, to launch CarouPay, a mobile payment service. In 2019, Carousell revamped CarouPay to launch Carousell Protection. Carousell Protection is its secure in-app payment feature that allows buyer and seller to make payment and complete the deal on Carousell, through credit/debit card or DBS PayLah!. Some features include that the payment be held by Carousell until both buyer and seller are satisfied with the transaction, and that buyers and sellers are given a platform to raise and resolve issues with their order in the app.
Operation
Items are prohibited for sale on Carousell if they are illegal or they violate the marketplace's community guidelines. In the effort to curb COVID-19, Carousell has issued in-app advisories to refrain users from face-to-face transactions.
Criticism
In a Yahoo Tumblr page, images of users posting photos or screenshots of their bad experiences they encounter on Carousell relating to scams, fraud and harassment have circulated on social media platforms like Facebook and Tumblr. Users of Carousell have also complained about cases of scams by fake sellers. The Singapore Police Force has reported that over 70% of e-commerce scams in 2018 took place on Carousell.
