Month: February 2015

CARMUDI SECURES $25M IN NEW FUNDING FOR ASIA AND LATIN AMERICA

Rocket Internet backed online car classified player to become No.1 in emerging markets.

Berlin, Germany – Carmudi, a leading car classified site backed by Rocket Internet, has raised $25 million to strengthen its operations in Asia and Latin America. Investors include Asia Pacific Internet Group (APACIG), a joint venture of Rocket Internet and Ooredoo, Holtzbrinck Ventures, a leading consumer internet investor, Tengelmann Ventures, a division of international multi-sector retailer Tengelmann Group, and a private investor.

Launched in October 2013, Carmudi has rapidly scaled up to 20 countries, seven of which are in Asia (Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam) and one in Latin America (Mexico). The platform is known to provide the most innovative and fastest way to buy and sell cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles online.

Carmudi Co-Founder and Global Managing Director Stefan Haubold

The announcement of this funding comes at a time when the company is experiencing a remarkable growth of over 50 per cent in all its markets and has authentic listings of over 300,000 vehicles for its users globally.

Carmudi Co-Founder and Global Managing Director Stefan Haubold said: “This funding will be crucial in boosting our operations in Asia and Latin America. Our goal is to be the No.1 car classified platform in all our markets. There are over 300 million active internet users that we are aiming to tap into in these markets. We want to make sure that we bring them the best experience of car shopping on their laptops and mobile phones.”

The new round of investment goes to show the support and confidence investors have in Carmudi’s business model. Koen Thijssen, co-CEO of APACIG stated, “We invest in companies where we see high potential for growth and expansion. We are sure that Carmudi will be able to conquer its markets very soon.” As the internet penetration is likely to reach 44 per cent by 2018 in in Asia Pacific region alone (excluding China and India), Carmudi’s strategic timing could not have been better. Having the first-mover advantage is certainly helping Carmudi become a household name as it continues to reap the rewards from a growing middle class and influx of foreign spending in emerging markets. In fact, it is already reaching over a million users per month through its website and mobile app.

With its new features, Carmudi is making the selling and buying process much simpler for experts and novices alike who are new to the Internet.

About Carmudi

Carmudi was founded in 2013 and is currently available in Bangladesh, Cameroon, Congo, Ghana,Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi

Arabia,Senegal, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and Zambia. The vehicle marketplace offers buyers, sellers and car dealers the ideal platform to find cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles online.

About APACIG

The Asia Pacific Internet Group (www.apacig.com) is a joint venture of Rocket Internet and Ooredoo. The group’s network consists of 13 e-commerce and online marketplace companies, operating across 15 countries. Since it was founded in 2014, APACIG has become the leading online platform in Asia, building top internet companies in the region.

About Holtzbrinck Ventures

HV Holtzbrinck Ventures has been investing in internet companies for over ten years, primarily during their start-up phase. In this time, Holtzbrinck Ventures has financed over 120 companies and has established itself as one of the few venture capital firms that has also founded market leading internet companies. Today Holtzbrinck Ventures is one of Europe’s most successful early-stage investors in the internet sector, with investments in some of the internet’s biggest companies including Zalando, Wooga, Groupon, Westwing, Experteer, Dreamlines, Lazada, Flixbus, Quandoo, Lendico, Outfittery, Delivery Hero or Brands4Friends.

About Tengelmann Group

Tengelmann Group (www.tengelmann.de) is an international operating retail company whose business interests are spread across a number of different industries. Subsidiaries include OBI, KiK, Kaiser’s Tengelmann, Tengelmann e-stores ,TREI Real Estate as well as Tengelmann Ventures, one of Germanys leading Venture Capital Company which invested in over 40 fast growing start-ups worldwide. The family-owned business was established in 1867 in Mülheim an der Ruhr and is currently managed in fifth generation. Tengelmann Group is operating over 4,000 stores in 15 different countries and employing more than 80,000 people. The group’s annual turnover is totalling EUR 11bn.

REFERENCE:

Kris Lim

Carmudi Philippines

February 24, 2015
Property Oscars 2015

And the Oscar goes to…

With awards season drawing to a close, it is not only movies and actors that deserve recognition for their work. Global real estate network Lamudi rolls out the red carpet for the Property Oscars—recognizing some of the leaders in international real estate.

Category: Tallest Building

And the Oscar goes to…the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is 829.9 meters (2,722 ft) high and has claimed the official title of tallest building in the world since opening in January 2010. It is almost twice the height of the Empire State Building, which was the world’s tallest building for nearly 40 years.

Burj Khalifa features 162 floors, took six years to be build and is owned by Emaar Estates. It holds several records such as tallest skyscraper, building with the most floors, world’s highest escalator installation, world’s highest restaurant and nightclub, and many more.

Both the height of the building and its costs are enormous. The building’s price tag, at US$1.5 billion, was about 37 times the amount of the Empire State building.

Category: Oldest Building

Considered the oldest building in the world is the nearly 7,000-year-old Barnenez, overlooking the bay of Molaix in Brittany, France. The estimated weight of the massive stone structure is 13,000 to 14,000 tons. It features 11 chambers, each entered by separate passages. No doubt the building has had many more than one owner and purpose.

The Neolithic monument was built around 4,800 BC and classified as a tumulus (a type of grave) in 1850. But over time it was not only used to host the dead. At first the building was 32 meters long, 9 meters wide and 8 meters high. In 4,200 BC and 3,900 BC the building was extended to six further chambers added to the west, increasing its size to 72 meters long, 25 meters wide and over 13 meters high. The structure was almost destroyed after it was used as a quarry for paving stones.

Category: Most Expensive Home

The 400,000-square-feet private skyscraper—situated in the south of Mumbai, India—is the residence of the world’s fifth richest man, Mukesh Ambani. He is the chairman of Reliance Industries Limited and moved in to the 27-storey skyscraper with his wife and three children.

The first six floors are only parking lots, followed by a huge lobby with nine elevators going up Ambani’s 167.64-meter-high (550 feet) home. In the enormous home, which is known as Antilla, no two floors are the same in terms of interior and materials used. The property features several storage rooms, lounges, a large ballroom with 80 percent of its ceiling covered in crystal chandeliers, several swimming pools, a yoga studio, an ice room with man-made snow and a four-story open garden.

The costs of the world’s largest and most expensive home were approximately US$1 billion.

Category: Most Expensive Building

Located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the world’s most expensive building is the Abraj Al-Bait Towers, also known as the Mecca Royal Hotel Clock Tower. It is owned by the government and had an estimate building cost of US$15 billion.

The 601 meter-high building is part of the King Abdulaziz Endowment Project, which was introduced to modernize the city in order to cope with the massive amount of visitors who make the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

The Abraj Al-Bait Towers has a large prayer room capable of holding more than 10,000 people and also includes a five-star hotel to host the pilgrims, who participate in the Hajj each year.

Category: Most Famous Home

The White House is the most famous home in the world and principal workplace of the most powerful man in the United States—the President.

Built in 1792, it features six stories, of which two are in the basement, 132 rooms, 16 bedrooms and 35 bathrooms, measuring altogether 5,901.65 square meters (or 55,000 square feet). Each week the White House receives up to 30,000 visitors, 65,000 letters, 3,500 phone calls and 100,000 emails.

In 1962 Jacqueline Kennedy, the wife of the president, directed the extensive and historic redecoration of the White House. For each room there a different theme related to the early republic and world history was selected. The best-known room is the Oval Office, which also provides the backdrop for many Hollywood blockbusters.

REFERENCE & MEDIA CONTACT:

Rodel Ambas

Head of Content and PR, Lamudi Philippines

Email: rodel.ambas@lamudi.com.ph

Phone: +63 917 3015127

February 18, 2015

Month: February 2015

CARMUDI SECURES $25M IN NEW FUNDING FOR ASIA AND LATIN AMERICA

Property Oscars 2015