Rocket Internet’s Carmudi, A Car Classifieds Site, Grabs $10M In New Funding To Expand In Asia

Carmudi, a car classified ads site backed by Rocket Internet, has raised $10 million to expand its operations in Asia. Investors include Tengelmann Ventures, the investment arm of the German retail giant. The site’s network currently operates in eleven countries, six of which are in Asia (Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Vietnam).

Carmudi, which launched last year, claims that the number of its listings is growing 200% a month and will soon reach a total of 100,000 around the world.

In Asia, Carmudi competes with local operators as well as Malaysia-based iCar Asia, which is backed by Australian sites Carsales.com. iCar Asia is currently the largest network of car classifieds sites in Southeast Asia, though its rapid expansion has come at a cost. BRW reported that in the fiscal year ending June 30, the company lost $2.78 million, far above its revenue of $551,00. Its CEO Damon Reilly said, however, that iCar Asia’s current focus is rapid expansion.

That is similar to Rocket Internet’s business strategy of launching in emerging markets, especially those with high mobile penetration, and growing as rapidly as possible with support from major investors like Tengelmann. This has the added benefit of allowing Rocket Internet’s portfolio companies, which include Easy Taxi and fashion retailer Zalora, to lay down groundwork for a logistics network that benefits all of the Berlin-based incubator’s properties.

In a statement, Carmudi co-founder and global managing director Stefan Haubold said, “The funding will help us drive our growth even further, enabling us to become the number one online vehicle marketplace in Asia. Eventually, I envision Carmudi to be a one-stop shop for all car-related topics, be it car reviews, news, tips or simple advice.”

The Expand Home Screen

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Android: Themer has a ton of neat home screen themes, and Expand is no exception. This design features four collapsible sections with all the links, shortcuts, and widgets you'll ever need.

The design is very basic, divided into four sections: Home, Categories, Music Player, and Weather. Each one unfolds to show shortcuts or informative widgets. There's also a bar of quick links along the bottom for frequently used apps. This design is available directly in Themer.

Do you have an awesome, tweaked-into-oblivion home or lock screen of your own that you'd like to share? Post it in the comments below, or on your own Kinja blog with the tag "home screen showcase" (no quotes). Be sure to include a description of how you made it so we can feature it as the next featured home screen.

Expand for Themer | My Color Screen

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Sungevity Raises $70M To Expand Its Solar Business Globally

Sungevity, an integrator and marketer of solar installation services, has raised $70 million in new financing as it looks to expand internationally.

The round was led by Jetstream Ventures, a Nashville-based investor focused on companies that have an environmental and social benefits. Other investors included the Germany utility E.On, and GE Ventures, who previously invested in the company’s $125 million equity and debt funding in July 2013.

Oakland, Calif.-based Sungevity doubled its U.S. sales in 2013 and is expanding in the Netherlands and Australia, where it launched services in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

“As new, more customer-centric solutions around residential solar arise, we want to provide our customers with the best solutions available,” said Susana Quintana-Plaza, vice president of technology and innovation/strategic co-investment at E.On. “Our capital investment in Sungevity’s technology and customer-centric platform is a significant part of this.”

The company sells solar design and integration services to consumers in nine states and the District of Columbia, and is the exclusive partner to the home repair and furnishing retailer Lowe’s.

“We are the hub, if you will, for several partners in different areas of the industry,” said John Ordona, vice president of marketing at Sungevity. “We are the hub for equipment partners in terms of panels and modules and installers and also financing partners. We are the face to the consumer.”

The company’s financial partners include US Bank, Citibank, and SunRun, according to chief executive Andrew Birch.

Investors and corporations have warmed to solar installers over the past few years; despite its recent woes SolarCity is up from its initial public offering, and utilities are making moves to acquire their own solar installers.

“The fundamentals of solar have been improving over the last five to 10 years,” said Birch. “That’s going to continue.”

In January 2013, the company raised $125 million in venture capital and project financing from investors, including Energy Capital Partners, Brightpath Capital Partners, Lowe’s Cos., alongside Craton Equity Partners, Vision Ridge Partners and Eastern Sun Capital Partners.

Photo via Flickr user Martin Jakobsen.

HyperJuice Expand Is a USB Charger with Interchangeable Batteries

Portable battery packs are great until they run out and you have to wait hours for them to recharge. HyperJuice figured out a way around that problem: make a modular system where you can remove a dead battery and replace it with a charged one.

The HyperJuice Expand comes with a removable head that has three USB ports: two 12W and one 5W. It also has a built-in flashlight and a micro-USB port for recharging. Use magnets and some small connectors, the head attaches to one of four different battery heads that offer capacities from 3,000-12,000 mAh (and vary in size as well, as you can see above). This way you can attach the head to whatever size battery you need for the day, or take multiple batteries and replace the dead one with a charged one when you're done.

The only downside to the Expand series is that the battery charger is on the removeable head. One of the upsides of having removable batteries, in theory, is that you could charge them while another is in use. You can't really do that if you're already using the removable head to attach to a charged battery. Although annoying, you can just get an extra head for charging purposes. It still beats waiting for a recharge when you need one right away.

HyperJuice Expand ($40+) | HyperJuice

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