The car marketplace Moladin is reported to have secured a series B funding of $95 million or equivalent to 1.4 trillion Rupiah. Based on the regulator’s data, this round was led by DST Global, with the involvement of Sequoia Capital India, Northstar Group, East Ventures and a number of other investors.
We tried to confirm with Moladin, however, the rep still refuse to comment regarding funding.
The latest funding is estimated to bring Moladin’s valuation to over $700 million — one step closer to a unicorn. Previously, the company had announced series A funding in early 2022 worth $42 million. Sequoia Capital India and Northstar Group are leading this funding.
The startup was founded by Jovin Hoon and Mario Tanamas, it is accelerating its business even faster after pivoting in 2021, from a motorcycle purchasing platform to a used cars marketplace.
In an interview with DailySocial.id last January, Moladin’s CEO, Jovin Hoon said the used car market in Indonesia is still very fragmented and unorganized. There are many players in the ecosystem such as agents, micro dealers, and large dealers with no structured platform and work system. Moladin is here to bridge the gap.
Post-pivot, Jovin said that Moladin has experienced explosive business growth for the past 6 months. This provide founders with confidence to focus their resources on the used car business, with short-term plans to expand the business to other verticals such as financing and other automotive additional services.
Market competition
Car marketplace services is commonly have a C2B2C business model. It provides services of buying used cars from consumers, then auctioning them off to dealer partners and/or reselling them to consumers through the digital platform. They also carry out detailed inspections, allowing consumers to get the most ideal price due to the vehicle’s current.
There are also several players in Indonesia, including Carro, Carsome, and OLX Autos. The first two has reached the unicorn milestone last year, prompting them to make a massive expansion by presenting Experience Centers in various cities in Indonesia to reach more consumers.
Jovin and the Moladin management team are well aware of its position in the market. A series of business models and strategies are prepared. One thing that sets Moladin apart from other car marketplaces is its focus on empowering its network of agents.
“Our agents is our value proposition. They are key and an integral part of our business. By empowering agents through providing the right tools and ecosystem, we can offer customers a highly personalized car transaction experience,” Jovin said.
In addition, technology adoption will also be Moladin’s main focus, in order to digitize business processes as a whole. Some of the things in the roadmap include: (1) speed of transaction and disbursement on the same day; (2) competitive price; (3) good inventory selection; and (4) accessibility, with a strong presence even outside the big cities. Currently, Moladin is available in more than 115 cities throughout Indonesia.
The above model is claimed to be well received by the market. Jovin said that the company has experienced rapid growth from its used car business with transaction volume growing >20x over the last few months. Their digital services are also claimed to have increased the productivity of agents and dealers by >2.5x.
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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian
