Carsome, Southeast Asia’s used-car trading platform announces the appointment of Juliet Zhu as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) from January 1, 2020.

Bringing extensive experience in growth strategy and capital planning, Zhu has worked in the investment industry across China, India, and most of all, Southeast Asia.

Zhu’s track records include a stint in Long-Short Hedge Fund focussing on the Technology sector as well as Director and Board Member roles in various Venture Capital (VC) funds and companies.

Her past roles focussed on understanding business fundamentals as an equity analyst and later, as a portfolio manager focusing on the TMT space in a boutique long-short hedge fund where she proposed and executed short positions in Twitter and Zynga among other trades.

Most recently, Zhu worked with Fosun RZ Capital, a Global VC under Hong Kong-listed multi-billion-dollar conglomerate Fosun Group. She was also a part of other Southeast Asia-focussed venture capital firms such as Jubilee Capital Management and Cento Ventures.

Also Read: Carsome closes US$50M Series C; aims to be operationally profitable by end-2020

As Chief Financial Officer, Juliet will focus on Carsome’s growth strategy for core and new business verticals, ecosystem development through partnership and M&A, and overseeing all capital management including equity and debt fundraising.

“We are very pleased to welcome Juliet to Carsome,” said Eric Cheng, CEO, and Co-Founder of Carsome. “We have known Juliet since 2016, and she has stayed close to us and the industry for the past few years. She knows everything about Carsome and is incredibly well-versed in the nuances of our industry and ecosystem players in China, India, US, and Europe.”

Carsome raised US$50 million in Series C funding back in December 2019 from investors, including MUFG Innovation Partners, Daiwa PI Partners, Endeavor Catalyst, and Ondine Capital. The latest financing round brought the total raised by the company to US$85 million.

The appointment is timely as the company gears up to strengthen its regional leadership in the industry by expanding its ecosystem of products and offerings, including financing, warranty, and insurance.

Carsome claims that it has profited in Malaysia, and is now aiming to be operationally profitable in Indonesia and Thailand by end-2020.

Also Read: Malaysia’s Carsome raises US$19M Series B round to strengthen presence in Indonesia and Thailand

“The used car market in Southeast Asia is one of the most exciting yet understated opportunities in the region,” said Zhu. “The industry is one of the few spaces in the region that is comparable to the size of China with easily more than US$100 billion of untapped market in trading and financing alone. I have seen the growth of Carsome over the past few years, and I’m convinced of the business model and the team.”

Beyond the financial services sector, Juliet -who in her spare time is an avid playwright- has also published commentaries on the economy and businesses in business magazines and columns. She is an active investor in private and public companies, especially in the tech sector.

In November 2019, Carsome partnered with Funding Societies Malaysia, a peer-to-peer (P2P) financing platform, to offer up to US$200 million in financing to its local car dealers for the purchase of used motor vehicles.
–

Picture Credit: Carsome

The post Used-car trading startup Carsome appoints new CFO Juliet Zhu, looking to strengthen market position appeared first on e27.