Motorist, a Singapore-based automotive platform, has received seed investment from an AngelCentral syndicate managed by Lim Der Shing, co-founder of JobsCentral, for SGD 1.2 million (US $900,000).
Existing investors contributed as well, including Royston Tay, co-founder of Zopim, and Huang Shao-Ning, co-founder of JobsCentral.
Motorist will be able to “supercharge its growth” in Singapore and Malaysia, as well as expand into Thailand by the end of 2021, thanks to the new investment.
In addition, the business aims to hire 100 more people in other regions, including a tech team in Vietnam.
Motorist, which started out as a modern car-dealing platform in 2015, has since changed its focus to include assistance for the whole vehicle life cycle. Its goal is to establish an ecosystem of smart tools and services for automobile owners, such as vehicle purchases, financing, and insurance.
“As we prepare for the opening of the economy, our team will accelerate our execution across markets to support more motorists in their ownership cycle,” said founder and CEO Damian Sia.
According to the company, it has serviced over 500,000 motorists and handled over US $600 million in car transactions. Motorist may personalize user experience over time by leveraging a team of data scientists with Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills, notably through its recently introduced services such as issue reporting, workshop suggestion, and online payment.
In Singapore, Motorist claims that their app helps about 10% of the car population with vehicle management issues. By 2023, it hopes to have a 40% share of the market.
“They have demonstrated their ability to be capital efficient and have built a profitable multimillion-dollar business by mostly bootstrapping,” said Der Shing.
Motorist has become one of the main automobile transaction platforms in Singapore, among other well-funded rivals, with a GMV of S$650 million (US$483.34 million), according to Der Shing.
Carro, a Malaysia-based used car platform that is eyeing a US IPO in 2022, and Carsome, a Malaysia-based used car platform, are the two most prominent players in this sector. Carro, which became a unicorn this June with its US$360 million Series C funding, and Carsome, a Malaysia-based used car platform that is eyeing a US IPO in 2022, are the two most prominent players in this sector.
