Singapore-based car marketplace and lender Carro has secured a S$75-million ($55.4 million) multi-currency loan from HSBC to fund its fintech arm Genie Financial Services, according to an announcement on Thursday.
The wholly-owned subsidiary of Carro is a next-generation fintech automotive financing provider that can accurately reprice and compute a loan to suit an individual’s risk profile. It is available in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.
Carro currently has a presence in seven markets and just entered Hong Kong and Japan.
The loan is part of HSBC’s $1-billion ASEAN Growth Fund which aims to support champions in Southeast Asia’s booming digital economy. The British financial services group was reportedly reviewing eight companies earlier this year for potential investment from the debt fund.
“Our fintech business, leveraging proprietary data-driven lending, has been growing prudently with a loan book exceeding S$500 million and NPL below 0.5%. Securing this landmark financing from HSBC is a huge validation of our digital ecosystem-led business model,” Aaron Tan, Carro’s co-founder and CEO, said in the statement.
“This enables us to serve the underserved consumer segment even better,” Tan said.
Carro saw its revenues surge over 65% to S$1.1 billion in FY2023, while its net loss for the year increased to S$132.1 million due to soaring costs.
Ernest Chew, Carro’s Chief Financial Officer, said the loan will add to the company’s liquidity of nearly S$350 million as of the company’s recent financial year-end.
The Singapore-based automotive marketplace earned unicorn status following the completion of a $360-million Series C funding round in 2021 led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. The company has raised a total of $542.54 million to date, according to DATA VANTAGE.
In a recent interview with Reuters, Chew said Carro has been in talks to raise $100 million in the run-up to an eventual US public listing in 2025.
While Carro claimed to be the first to tap HSBC’s ASEAN Growth Fund, Indonesian aquaculture company eFishery may have also secured a $30-million green and social loan from the same source.
Riko Tasmaya, Managing Director and Head of Wholesale Banking at HSBC Indonesia, earlier said the financing for eFishery is part of the ASEAN Growth Fund.
