500 Global

Qunomedical Generates €10M Annual Revenue via SEO and Social

Qunomedical, founded by Sophie Chung in early 2016, is a Berlin-based platform that matches patients with doctors and clinics worldwide, focusing on higher-demand categories like teeth, skin and hair. Backed early by investors including Project A and 500 Startups, the company emphasizes organic search (SEO) over paid search, claiming it often ranks in Google organic results above clinics. Qunomedical also uses YouTube and Facebook — including patient videos, a YouTube channel, a ~58k-follower Facebook page and targeted Facebook groups — as conversion funnel elements. The business charges processing fees to partner doctors/clinics; average transaction sizes are €2,500–3,000, annual transaction volume is around €10 million, and margins are reported at 25–30%. Management cites a traffic mix of roughly 60% paid and 40% unpaid and says leads in strong cohorts cost under €200.

Weekly Focus: Singapore Online Marketplaces Snag £106.82m in Funds - ExchangeWire.com

Two Singapore-based online marketplaces, Carousell and Carro, raised a combined USD 145 million this week. Carousell secured USD 85 million in a Series C round, with DBS Bank joining as an investor and retail partner. The round was led by Rakuten Ventures and EDBI, with existing backers including 500 Startups, Golden Gate Ventures, and Sequoia India. Proceeds will boost Carousell’s AI/ML capabilities, fraud prevention, and expansion into new categories across 19 cities in seven Asian markets. Carro raised USD 60 million in Series B, led by SoftBank Ventures Korea, Insignia Ventures Partners, and B Capital Group, with Eduardo Saverin joining its board. Genie Financial Services originated more than USD 100 million in loans, and Carro processed over USD 250 million in vehicle sales last year across Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia. Alibaba acquired Daraz Group, expanding its presence in South Asia; Daraz operates in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Nepal with 2 million products, 30,000 sellers, 500 brands, and 5 million customers.

Weekly Focus: C2C Marketplace Fights Fraud with AI - ExchangeWire.com

The article covers Carousell, a Singapore-based C2C marketplace, deploying artificial intelligence and machine learning to reduce fraud and improve user experience. Carousell has 100 million product listings and has sold 38 million items over about 5.5 years, with roughly 200 staff and 100 engineers in Singapore and Taiwan. The platform uses data on buying behavior and product searches, running models on Google Cloud ML with Tencel Flow to detect fraudulent activity, improve recommendations, and speed up item Movement. Fraud is reportedly reduced to under 0.05%. AI also flags external messaging attempts, triggers trust-and-safety alerts, and analyzes images to catch mismatches between titles and descriptions, while aiming to automate categorization and personalize experiences. The piece also notes Facebook Marketplace launching in Singapore and expanding to 47 markets, with 550 million monthly buyers/sellers in Facebook Groups, while not handling payments or deliveries. Carousell’s funding totals USD 41.8 million from investors including Rakuten, 500Startups, QuestVC, and Golden Gate Ventures.