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Carro receives strategic investment from Woori, capping off a record FY2024 with 11x year-over-year EBITDA growth

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Strategic investment marks Woori Venture Partners’ first late-stage deal in Southeast Asia, to form a closer partnership as Carro ramps up expansion plans across Southeast Asia, including Indonesia Best-ever EBITDA of S$43 million (US$32 million), the fourth year of positive EBITDABest-ever Gross Profit of S$124 million (US$92 million), a 49% year-over-year growthGross Profit Margin (GPM) improved to 12% compared to 8% in FY2023, underpinned by nearly 60% of Gross Profit from ancillaries Total assets increased by 15% year-over-year to S$1.3 billion (US$0.9 billion)

SINGAPORE, Dec. 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Carro, Asia Pacific’s largest and fastest-growing online used car platform, is ending the year strong, having achieved an EBITDA of S$43 million (US$32 million) and a 4% EBITDA margin, according to their audited FY2024 numbers.

FY2024’s GPM expanded to 12%, shored up by a combination of strong marketplace margin expansion, ecosystem-led ancillary income growth, and productivity optimisation.

Carro’s fintech business, Genie Financial Services, recorded prudent growth across the region and kept non-performing loans (NPL) at below 0.5%, which is much better than industry benchmarks. The overall loan book grew to S$496 million (US$370 million).

In the last 12 months, Carro expanded its geographic presence to seven markets, out of Southeast Asia to Hong Kong and Japan.

Aaron Tan, co-founder and Group CEO of Carro says, “These numbers underscore the unique differentiated benefits of our ecosystem-led business operating model, as we focus on driving marketplace margin expansion by cross-selling ancillaries to drive recurring income streams. Even as we grow our volumes at double digit percentage to a record, we have and will continue to be laser focused on improving profitability, customer lifetime value across our ecosystem, inventory turnaround speed and productivity. This means building and leveraging more data and technology, including AI and machine learning. We are better placed than ever to scale sustainably and profitably in our core markets and are very excited to grow our newest markets: Hong Kong and Japan. We are still small in an enormous but fragmented market, there is significant room for growth as we build our business for scalability and sustainability.”

Ernest Chew, Chief Financial Officer of Carro says “We are heartened and proud to have over-delivered on our initial target of a 10x EBITDA growth. Despite a challenging macro-environment, we achieved significantly improved margins across most profitability metrics last year. Our focus on quality of revenues and recurring earnings have resulted in a 92% reduction in reported operating loss and within a striking distance of positive operating profits. Even as our cash from operating activities swung to positive,  we continue to be extremely vigilant on liquidity and have built up a warchest of over S$400 million in cash and undrawn lines. We have also been disciplined around managing down costs, improving efficiencies and pushing digital transformations to drive strong earnings growth.”

In a year marked by partnerships, Carro received strategic investments from Jardines and launched “Carro Care Powered by Jardine & Cycle”, Carro’s in-house refurbishment and after-sales servicing capabilities. It received a strategic investment from DRB-Hicom to support its Malaysian fintech business, which has seen solid growth. Carro also strengthened its insuretech offerings by working with ZA Tech to distribute highly personalised self-serve insurance products online, leading to an explosive Gross Written Premium growth of over 60%.

Via its latest strategic investment from Woori Venture Partners,  Carro aims to grow further in its Southeast Asian markets, especially in Indonesia where Woori has a strong presence in. Indonesia used car market size is estimated at US$56.3 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach US$74.4 billion by 2029, according to a study by Mordor Intelligence.  Bolstered by a robust, growing economy, more and more Indonesians are primed to be car owners, yet a lack of affordable financing has deterred even upper class households from owning cars.   

Alan Ang, Director of Woori Venture Partners says, “Carro is the clear leader in a space that is prime for disruption, with significant room for expansive growth. Their ability to grow profitably at scale is testament to their performance and commitment. Woori Venture Partners continues to be a global venture capital leader by backing outstanding founders and sustainable businesses anywhere in the world with our investment in Carro. We are very pleased to be a strategic partner of Carro and help Carro reach its next stage of growth.”

Ernest Chew, Chief Financial Officer of Carro says, “It’s always been a priority for Carro to build powerful partnerships with banks and financial institutions. Receiving a strategic investment from Woori Venture Partners, a venture capital subsidiary of Woori Financial Holdings – a storied Korean financial institution – is a ringing endorsement of our ecosystem-led and complementary fintech business model. We look forward to working with Woori to plug the gaps in the market, serve the underserved better and drive financial inclusion.”

About Carro
Founded in 2015, Carro is Asia Pacific’s largest online used car marketplace. By offering a trustworthy and transparent experience, Carro transforms the traditional way of buying and selling cars through proprietary pricing algorithms, AI-enabled capabilities, and innovative technological solutions.

Headquartered in Singapore, the unicorn startup has raised over S$700 million from Softbank Vision Fund and several sovereign funds. It recorded its best ever full-year positive EBITDA of S$43 million in FY2024. Together with its subsidiaries and business lines, Carro is supported by more than 5,000 employees across Asia-Pacific:

Carro, Southeast Asia’s largest online used marketplace with a strong key presence Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, and a recent expansion into Japan, Taiwan, and Hong KongCarro Care Powered by Jardine & Cycle, Carro’s in-house refurbishment and after-sales servicing capabilitiesGenie Financial Services, a next-generation fintech automotive financing provider in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and ThailandMPM Rent, leading mobility solutions company in Indonesia specialising in leasing / fleet financing transportation servicesInnorithm, a next-generation fleet management solutions company leveraging state-of-the art IoT and machine learningKaidee, Thailand’s largest online shopping and classifieds platform

For more information, please visit: www.carro.co.

About Woori Venture Partners
Woori Venture Partners is South Korea’s leading venture capital firm with a distinguished track record spanning over 40 years. Established in 1981, Woori Venture Partners has expanded its global presence with investment hubs in Silicon Valley, Shanghai and Singapore. With investments in over 2,000 companies, over 300 of which have successfully gone public, Woori Venture Partners is dedicated to driving innovation and fostering growth opportunities worldwide.

Woori Venture Partners officially opened its Singapore office in 2023, and its presence in Southeast Asia reflects the growing investment opportunities in the region. Woori Venture Partners has:

Cultivated a portfolio of close to 15 investments from Southeast Asia and India across diverse sectors including consumer, B2B, deep-tech and Web3Partnered Arkana Ventures, an Indonesia-based VC firm with a successful track record of investing in South East Asia, to focus on building disruptive early-stage startups across Southeast AsiaCollaborated with Saison Capital, the corporate venture capital arm of Credit Saison, to explore synergies on Web3 opportunities globally, with a particular focus on real-world assets and the intersection of financial services and blockchain

 

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SOURCE Carro

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Federal Court Issues Preliminary Injunction Against OpenAI, Sam Altman, and Sir Jony Ive; iyO Alleges Trade Secret Theft by Altman’s Hardware Chief

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April 27, 2026

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SAN FRANCISCO, April 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — On Thursday, April 23, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted iyO Inc. a preliminary injunction against OpenAI, Sam Altman, Sir Jony Ive, and io Products. The ruling, where the Court found that iyO was likely to succeed on the merits of its trademark claim, officially bars the defendants from using the “io” name for their hardware while iyO’s federal lawsuit proceeds.

Federal court bars OpenAI, Sam Altman, and Jony Ive from using ‘io’ name as iyO alleges trade secret theft.

Amended Complaint: Trade Secret Theft and Corporate Espionage
The ruling caps a year of escalating legal action. On March 13, 2026, iyO amended its federal complaint to include trade secret theft claims against the defendants and Tang Yew Tan — former Apple VP of Product Design, co-founder of io Products, and current Chief Hardware Officer at OpenAI.

The amended complaint outlines a highly coordinated timeline of alleged misappropriation:

May 2024: Just 11 days after iyO’s viral TED talk was published, Tan pre-ordered the iyO One. Nine days later, he contacted iyO’s Design and Manufacturing Lead, Dan Sargent, to schedule a dinner meeting for early June.

June 2024: Forensic analysis of Sargent’s company laptop revealed that in the days leading up to the dinner with Tan, Sargent downloaded 33 highly secret files, accessed dormant intellectual property folders, and exported 17 CAD files into cross-platform formats unused by iyO. These files were renamed with obfuscated strings (e.g., “grgrgege.x_t”) and exported outside of business hours. Sargent has since admitted to bringing iyO prototypes to show Tan.

May 2025: Barely 11 months after the dinner, OpenAI announced a $6.5 billion acquisition of io Products, a company built on what iyO alleges is its proprietary technology.

Following the acquisition announcement, iyO CEO Jason Rugolo confronted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who refused to cease use of the “io” name and threatened to sue Rugolo for using iyO’s own federally registered trademark.

Statement from iyO Leadership
“Sam, Jony, and Tang investigated us,” said Jason Rugolo, founder and CEO of iyO. “Then targeted us opportunistically, trying to eliminate us with a fancy $6.5 billion press release during our fundraise using a copy of our name. This week, a federal judge said: not so fast.”

iyO’s lawsuit asserts nine causes of action, including trade secret misappropriation, trademark infringement, intentional interference, and unfair competition. The company is seeking injunctive relief, compensatory and exemplary damages, disgorgement of profits, and a constructive trust over any portion of the $6.5 billion acquisition value attributable to the alleged stolen intellectual property and brand infringement.

ABOUT IYO
iyO began its mission inside Google X in 2018 to make natural language computing as commonplace as cellular phones. Spinning out as an independent venture-backed startup in 2021, iyO developed the iyO One, the iyO yO, and the recently announced iyO Wand, which are revolutionary screenless computer form factors that allow users to interact with AI and the internet through voice alone. iyO is headquartered in Redwood City, CA.

WEBSITE
www.iyo.ai 

IYO INC.
2606 SPRING STREET
REDWOOD CITY, CA 94063
UNITED STATES

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
©2026 IYO INC.

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SOURCE iyO, Inc.

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Pudu Robotics Inaugurates U.S. Headquarters in Dallas, Accelerating Long-Term Growth in the Americas

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April 27, 2026

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DALLAS, April 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Pudu Robotics, a global leader in commercial service robotics, officially opened a new U.S. headquarters in Dallas, Texas, on April 23 as part of its global strategic expansion. The new facility is set to enhance Pudu’s regional capabilities and underscores the company’s long-term commitment to the Americas, marking a new phase of scaled, structured business development.

Dallas Unlocks Greater Efficiency and Regional Coordination

As a central hub for nationwide and cross regional operations across the Americas, Dallas brings strong strategic advantages. The area offers well-developed logistics and supply chain infrastructure, a business friendly environment, and access to a broad base of enterprise customers. Its central location will allow Pudu more efficient coverage across both North America and South America. As Pudu transitions into a phase of rapid, scalable growth in the Americas, its new centralized headquarters, which is located in Richardson’s Sherman Tech Center and combines a modern office space, product showroom, and on site warehousing, will enhance support management, operations, and long term regional coordination.

Meanwhile, as part of its broader infrastructure optimization, the company has also transitioned its Santa Clara office into a streamlined logistics support function outpost and established a dual warehouse system on both coasts to support nationwide delivery in the U.S.

Pudu in the Americas – A Growing Footprint Across Diverse Industries

Since entering the U.S. market in 2018, Pudu has steadily expanded its footprint across the Americas to a point of deep, localized operations. To date, nearly 15,000 Pudu robots have been deployed across the Americas, driving regional revenue growth of 285% year over year, bringing the company to a phase of large scale commercialization.

This rapid adoption is fueled by Pudu’s comprehensive product matrix, which addresses the specific labor and efficiency needs of the American market across four core categories:

Service Delivery: Led by the industry-favorite BellaBot and the newly enhanced BellaBot Pro, which have become the gold standard for hospitality and retail interaction.Commercial Cleaning: Featuring the best-selling PUDU CC1 series, the PUDU MT1 series designed for large-scale dry cleaning, and the recently launched PUDU BG1 series—an AI-native large scrubber-dryer robot built for heavy-duty environments.Industrial Delivery: The PUDU T-series robots provide versatile logistics support with payload capacities ranging from 150kg to 600kg, streamlining warehouse and factory workflows.General embodied AI: Represented by the advanced PUDU D5 series, pushing the boundaries of how robots interact with and adapt to complex human environments.

Partnerships with local distributors have also accelerated, achieving 63.6% YoY growth, with a rapidly expanding client base across diverse industries, including food and beverage, healthcare, industrial logistics and warehousing, real estate and property services, retail, and entertainment, sports and more. The company’s robots have enjoyed strong adoption by global industry leaders, including Walmart, Accenture, NASA, Norwegian Cruise Line, Honeywell, top automotive brands, and others.

This growth is matched by organizational development. Since entering the U.S. market in 2018, a initial team has flourished into a multi functional organization of professionals, with localized sales, after sales service, solutions, and marketing capabilities that enable stronger customer support and execution.

Building a Global Future Based on a Strategy of Localization

Looking ahead, Pudu will continue expanding its presence across key sectors including retail, logistics, food service, healthcare, and commercial cleaning, while bringing its service delivery, commercial cleaning, industrial delivery, and general embodied AI robotics solutions into broader industry scenarios.

“We are building for the long-term in the Americas with a localized approach,” said Raymond Pan, General Manager of the Americas at Pudu Robotics. “Our ambition over the next five years is to serve one million people across the U.S . Our new headquarters and infrastructure optimization provide a foundation for this ambition, alongside continuing investment in localized products, enhancing our local supply chain, and strengthening our partner ecosystem.”

Pudu has established itself as a global leader in service robotics, with more than 120,000 units shipped worldwide, operations spanning over 80 countries and regions, and 23% market share in commercial service robotics—ranking No. 1 globally per Frost & Sullivan’s “Market Research on Global Commercial Service Robotics (2023)”. Going forward, Pudu will accelerate its development and localization efforts across the Americas, while, at the same time, continuing to scale its presence in other key international markets as part of its global expansion strategy.

About Pudu Robotics

Pudu Robotics, a global leader in the commercial service robotics, committed to establishing a global intelligent robotics infrastructure that will serve 10 billion people worldwide.

Pudu Robotics has achieved full-stack proprietary R&D in core technologies, including navigation algorithms, multi-robot scheduling, swarm control, motion controllers, and integrated joint modules. Built on three core technologies—Embodied Navigation, Embodied Manipulation, and Embodied Interaction—Pudu Robotics has pioneered an “One Brain, Multiple Embodiments” architecture, establishing a comprehensive product portfolio that includes specialized, semi-humanoid, and humanoid robots.

Currently, Pudu offers four major product lines: service delivery, commercial cleaning, industrial delivery and general embodied AI. Its solutions are widely deployed across industries such as retail, hospitality, manufacturing, real estate and property services, healthcare, entertainment and sport, education, and public services.

To date, Pudu Robotics has shipped over 120,000 units globally, with a presence in more than 80 countries and regions.

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KuCoin Hosts HEXAGON BLOCK PARTY at Hong Kong Web3 Festival, Headlined by DJ Don Diablo and Rooted in Shared Values of Community and Connection

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April 27, 2026

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Headlined by internationally renowned DJ Don Diablo, the event brought together guests from the Web3 and fintech communities for an immersive evening experience.

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands, April 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — KuCoin, a leading global crypto platform built on trust, and the exclusive Crypto Exchange and Payments Partner for Tomorrowland Winter and Tomorrowland Belgium (2026-2028), brought the spirit of global electronic music culture to Asia with the HEXAGON BLOCK PARTY in Hong Kong on April 22, which it co-hosted with Finoverse.

Headlined by internationally renowned DJ Don Diablo, the event welcomed guests from across the Web3, fintech, and broader innovation communities, creating an immersive gathering shaped by shared energy, conversation, and in-person connection. Building on KuCoin’s recent Tomorrowland Winter activation, which highlighted a shared belief that trust can be strengthened through community, creativity, and cultural experience, the event carried that momentum forward in Hong Kong through a similar spirit of openness, energy, and human connection. 

Held in the heart of Hong Kong, HEXAGON BLOCK PARTY was designed as more than an evening celebration. By combining world-class music with a culturally driven atmosphere, the event offered a welcoming space for founders, builders, creators, and community participants to come together in a more human and experience-led setting. It reflected a shared belief that meaningful community is built not only through ideas and technology, but also through moments of creativity, openness, and collective experience.

The event aimed to create a cultural touchpoint in Hong Kong that resonated beyond the venue itself. The event served as a space where ideas, creativity, and communities could converge, bringing together guests across Web3, fintech, and digital culture through a shared experience rooted in openness, energy, and connection.

As the global partnership between KuCoin and Tomorrowland continues, the journey moves forward to Tomorrowland Belgium in July 2026, where KuCoin will once again collaborate with Tomorrowland to create new experiences at the intersection of music, culture, and Web3, further expanding the role of digital assets in real-world cultural moments.

About KuCoin

Founded in 2017, KuCoin is a leading global crypto platform built on trust and security, serving over 40 million users across 200+ countries and regions. Known for its reliability and user-first approach, the platform combines advanced technology, deep liquidity, and strong security safeguards to deliver a seamless trading experience. KuCoin provides access to 1,500+ digital assets through a broad product suite and remains committed to building transparent, compliant, and user-centric digital asset infrastructure for the future of finance, backed by SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001:2022, and ISO/IEC 27701:2019 Certifications. In recent years, we have built a strong global compliance foundation, marked by key milestones including AUSTRAC registration in Australia, a MiCA license in Europe, and regulatory progress in other markets. 

Learn more at www.kucoin.com.

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SOURCE KuCoin

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