South Korea-based Handle, which operates the used car e-commerce platform CARMERCE, announced that it has secured a pre-Series A funding of KRW 3 billion from Hankook Tire & Technology. This brings the company’s cumulative funding total to KRW 6 billion, including seed funding from SparkLabs and others. 

CARMERCE, which officially launched last November, is a used car e-commerce platform where all processes such as purchase, loan, and return are available on mobile. Consumers can purchase and return used cars on the go, without the need for phone consultations or in-store visits, and all purchases are 100% guaranteed by CARMERCE, not the dealer, so consumers can buy used cars with confidence.

CARMERCE will use this funding to recruit talented development staff and invest in research and development (R&D) to enhance its services. In particular, it will focus on strengthening public relations and marketing activities to raise awareness of its brand, as well as various promotions to enhance customer benefits. In addition, the company will collaborate with various financial companies in addition to Merits Capital to accelerate the development of used car loan products, providing consumers with a variety of more competitive loan products.

As a strategic business partner, Hankook Tire will collaborate on various promotions, platform technology development, and service planning related to e-commerce, and will also provide investment and support for the company’s scale-up.  

“With this investment, we will further upgrade our services and strive to become the best used car e-commerce platform in Korea that is trusted by consumers,” said Ahn In-sung, CEO of Handle.

Hankook Tire & Technology, an affiliate of Hankook & Company Group (formerly Hankook Tire Group), is a leading global tire company. In January this year, the company exclusively supplied tires to Lamborghini Racing to strengthen its premium brand, and its performance last year was the highest ever. 

As a group, Hankook Tire & Technology has also been active in investing in startups in the mobility industry. Hankook Tire has made equity investments in motor culture-based Peaches. and supported Towns, a peer-to-peer car sharing service, which successfully spun off as the first in-house venture through its incubation program.