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Carousell, an online classifieds marketplace specialising in pre-loved goods that started in Singapore in 2012, is now a unicorn.

Its valuation hit US$1.1 billion after it raised US$100 million in a fresh round of funding led by Korean private equity firm STIC Investments, Carousell said on Sep. 15.

A start-up gains unicorn status when its valuation hits US$1 billion or more.

Carousell CEO Quek Siu Rui, who is also co-founder of the company, said the fresh funds will be used "to seek opportunistic acquisitions in scaling up" in "recommerce across more categories and markets".

Quek said: "Our goal is to make transacting in a secondhand marketplace as convenient and trusted as any e-commerce platform so that secondhand can truly be the first choice."

The platform is now looking at authentication capabilities for luxury goods and cars, as it moves into the higher-value products space.

STIC's managing director Jason Cho will join Carousell's board of directors as part of the funding round.

Cho said SITC was "highly confident" that Carousell will be at the center of the secondhand economy in the region due to more "environmentally conscious consumers" shifting towards a "circular economy".

Carousell said in its press release: "The investment will power the group’s ambitions to redefine commerce for secondhand goods and automobiles in an increasingly digitally savvy, affluent and sustainability-conscious region."

Carousell was founded in Singapore in 2012.

It has a presence in eight markets in Asia.

Previous Carousell backers include Telenor Group, Rakuten Ventures, Naver and Sequoia Capital India.

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Top photo via Carousell