Quek Siu Rui studied at NUS and spent time in Silicon Valley through the NUS Overseas College. He, Marcus Tan and Lucas Ngoo were frustrated by how hard it was to resell gadgets online.
They won Startup Weekend Singapore in 2012 and launched the app. The first sale was a Kindle for S$75. The company was incorporated in January 2013, and the founders drew no salaries for the first 1.5 years.
Funding followed from Quest Ventures, Rakuten, Golden Gate Ventures and 500 Global. A $35 million Series B came in August 2016 and an $85 million Series C in May 2018, with Rakuten Ventures and EDBI.
Carousell bought OLX Philippines in April 2019 and merged with Telenor's 701Search in November 2019. In September 2021 a $100 million round led by STIC Investments valued it at $1.1 billion.