Rise of the Malaysian Unicorn

Southeast Asia’s leading used car platform, Carsome has the honour of being Malaysia’s first tech unicorn. It’s a watershed moment for co-founder Eric Cheng who wants to change the way we buy cars in the future

- Chong Jinn Xiung

In 2013, venture capitalist Aileen Lee coined the term ‘unicorn’, used to describe privately held startup companies with a value of over US$1 billion. While these companies were rare at the time, more have since emerged, and it has become every aspiring startup founder’s dream to build a unicorn company one day.

While not every startup makes that dream come true, that dream became a reality for Carsome cofounder and group chief executive officer Eric Cheng. The company became Malaysia’s first tech unicorn in July 2021 after it acquired a stake in iCar Asia Ltd, which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.

All this didn’t happen by chance. Cheng, a Gen.T 2019 honouree, firmly believes that his success proves that it doesn’t matter what kind of background you come from. “So long as you can dream it and work very hard, anything is possible,” he says. It also goes to show that Malaysians have what it takes to be successful on a regional and international level.

While Carsome is Malaysia’s first tech unicorn, Cheng is certain that it will not be its last. He hints that he knows of several other Malaysian startups that are poised to follow Carsome’s path, and we may see more unicorns sprouting up in the near future.

THE MAKING OF A STARTUP UNICORN