Carousell Caplok Laku6, Ambitious to Lead the "Recommerce" Market in Southeast Asia

Startups classified marketplace Carousell acquired Laku6 for $25 million or Rp375 billion. This acquisition is Carousell's strategy to lead the market re-commerce (trade-in services) across various product verticals in Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, this purchase transaction was supported by Heliconia Capital, an investment company owned by Temasek. It is known that Heliconia made its first investment in Carousell in October 2021.

In its official statement, this acquisition follows a similar action by Carousell against marketplace for streetwear authentic Ox Street and platform re-commerce retailer Refresh.

Carousell co-founder and CEO Quek Siu Rui said, the market re-commerce have a chance win-win-win great when viewed from various sides. First, it is advantageous for users who want like-new device at affordable prices. Second, for environmental improvements because used cellphones can be reused.

Lastly, it is profitable for businesses with growth potential above 2,5 times. According to a ReedSeer Strategy Consultant report, the market re-commerce for electronics alone in Southeast Asia is predicted to reach $18,6 billion by 2026.

"This partnership is a strong combination to lead the market re-commerce electronics in Southeast Asia. We are technology supported remote diagnostic Laku6's AI-powered, 10 million user base and leading investment company," said Quek.

It is said to be a strong combination because Laku6 is called a company re-commerce which has received the largest seed funding in Southeast Asia to date.

Meanwhile, Laku6 Founder and CEO Alvin Yap added, "We have a deep commitment to making used products the first choice. With Carousell's market scale and investment, we are well positioned to create a successful formula and offer our proven solutions to customers. end-user and merchants," he said.

Founded in 2016, Laku6 is a platform E-commerce and an application-based second-hand phone trade-in that relies on technology to identify the condition of a used cell phone within two minutes. Laku6 claims to have recorded sales and trade-in transactions of 500 thousand used mobile phones. They also had a relationship strategic partnership with Tokopedia to present trade-in products in online marketplace The.

Meanwhile, Carousell recorded around 2 million listing in the electronics category every quarter, claiming its position as the largest used electronic transaction platform in the Southeast Asia region. In addition to fashion and electronic products, Carousell is also in the car and property sales category.

Second hand smartphone market

Menurut report IDC, delivery smartphone used globally is predicted to reach 351,6 million units with a value of reaching $65 billion in 2024. Analysts call growth smartphone was driven by the rapid development of technology. There is a push for users to improve performance by switching to new devices with cutting-edge technology.

In addition, a number of smartphone vendors are now starting to provide trade-in facilities for users who want to buy the latest products at lower prices. For example, Apple, Samsung, and Huawei.

In Indonesia, the number of cellular devices as of January 2022 touched 370,1 million, up 3,6% from the same period last year. Meanwhile, internet penetration has penetrated 73,7% of the total population in the same period.

Besides Laku6, there are also startups that play on a similar model, namely: good phone. To strengthen service E-commerce For used smartphones, Jagofon prioritizes two main aspects to carry out quality control, namely IMEI checking and device functionality.