SINGAPORE - Media OutReach^[1] - 15 November 2021 -Carousell Group^[2], the leading classifieds group in the Greater Southeast Asian region, has announced that it has acquired Ox Street^[3], one of the fastest growing end-to-end marketplaces for authenticated sneakers and streetwear in Southeast Asia, as it sets sights on the US$10 billion sneaker resale market in Greater Southeast Asia.

What started as an underground movement has quickly become mainstream with sneakers emerging as one of the must-haves in men's accessories. In fact, in 2020, the total global sneaker market revenue was valued at approximately US$70 billion and was forecasted to reach a value of US$102 billion by 2025¹. Within Southeast Asia, the forecasted yearly growth is over 20%, double the global average.

The partnership reflects Carousell's deep commitment to reimagining the classifieds experience, with a focus on trust and convenience, to make secondhand the first choice. The Ox Street team inspects and authenticates every pair of sneakers before it reaches its buyers. Carousell's advanced and intuitive technology, extensive reach, and marketplace liquidity across a wide range of categories, combined with Ox Street's authentication capabilities will further propel the mutual goal of creating an experience where transacting secondhand is as convenient and trusted as buying first hand.

Leveraging Ox Street's strong domain expertise in the streetwear industry, Carousell intends to deepen its reach and scale to become a market leader for fashion and luxury goods. It will also allow both marketplaces to capture the growth of the Greater Southeast Asian market across sneakers and more emerging categories driven by Gen Z trends.

The demand for sneakers on both platforms are growing, especially among male users. 70% of Ox Street users are male who spend on average $400 per pair. While on Carousell, 28% of  men's footwear is sold for US$100 to $250, double that of women's footwear.

"We are excited to partner with Gijs and team in our mission to inspire the world to start selling. We share common values in being user-first and in building communities, as evidenced by the brand love they have created amongst their dedicated community of sneakerheads and fashion enthusiasts, especially amongst the Gen Z. They have also built trust by authenticating every pair of sneakers that gets transacted on the Ox Street marketplace. We see immense opportunity in bringing that capability and their learnings to double down on our recommerce efforts. Most of all, we see this acquisition as joining forces to accelerate our shared vision of making secondhand the first choice." said Quek Siu Rui, Co-founder and CEO of Carousell.

"We initially started a conversation with Carousell on partnering up to provide authentication as a service for sneakers, but as discussions progressed we found so much common ground in how we see the future, that we decided it would be much more powerful for Ox Street to fully join the Carousell group. Our focus markets align nearly 1 to 1, and in these markets Carousell was actually the first, and remains the largest marketplace for sneakers and streetwear. We started Ox Street to bring a more seamless experience to buying and selling in these categories, and it's very exciting that we can now continue building our vision for this space on a much larger scale.

With Carousell's reach and technological capabilities, we can supercharge Ox Street's ability to innovate and reach more buyers and sellers. Last but not least, we have a lot of shared values and found a very strong cultural fit, and I cannot be more excited to partner with Siu Rui, Marcus, Lucas and the entire Carousell team." said Gijs Verheijke, the Founder and CEO of Ox Street.

1.     https://www.statista.com/statistics/1017918/sneakers-market-value-forecast-worldwide/^[4]

References

1. ^{^} Media OutReach (www.media-outreach.com)
2. ^{^} Carousell Group (www.linkedin.com)
3. ^{^} Ox Street (oxstreet.com)
4. ^{^} https://www.statista.com/statistics/1017918/sneakers-market-value-forecast-worldwide/ (www.statista.com)