Aaron Tan is co-founder and chief executive of Carro, a Singapore-based online car marketplace that raised more than $480 million in June 2021 to become one of the country’s latest unicorns. It is the largest car marketplace in Southeast Asia, and the business is worth at least US$1 billion with investors such as Japanese multinational conglomerate SoftBank and Indonesia‑based fund EV Growth.

Described by Tan in a Gen.T interview as the “Alibaba of cars”, Carro is unique in that it employs artificial intelligence (AI) software to scan images of cars to uncover possible issues; mechanics later also check the vehicles for defects. It claims that the use of AI reduces the incidence of human error by 80 per cent and expedites the transaction process by up to 20 per cent.

Since 2016, Carro’s staff has grown from just 10 to almost 900 today, spread across seven countries worldwide. The company intends to use the funds raised to expand its presence in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, and possibly enter new markets such as Vietnam and the Philippines. A Nasdaq listing by 2023 is also on the cards.