A pair of startups in Myanmar get funding to battle Rocket Internet

Two startups in Myanmar got funding today to help their online classifieds sites battle Rocket Internet in the country. MyanmarCarsDB and iMyanmarHouse got an undisclosed amount of funding from Malaysia’s Frontier Digital Ventures.

The two sites are made by two different web portal companies. The team behind MyanmarCarsDB also runs other sites like MyanmarHouseDB, while iMyanmarHouse is created by the iMyanmar Group.

Shaun Di Gregorio, the former CEO of iProperty Group, heads up the VC firm behind today’s funding news. He explains to Tech in Asia that the respective entrepreneurs behind the two companies will concentrate just on these sites – MyanmarHouseDB and iMyanmarHouse – in order to extend their market lead:

When we met with both companies we discussed the value of being focused and not trying to do too many things at once. Our experience is that when you focus, you give yourself every chance of winning. Hence the focus will be on the website that each company is category leader in.

Classifieds clash

Rocket Internet, with its billions in VC funding and IPO money, is also active with listings sites in Myanmar.

The prevalence of all these classifieds portals looks like the early days of ecommerce in Myanmar.

“Myanmar is the last untouched market in Asia. Frontier’s two investments […] ideally position us as Myanmar’s market emerges,” added Di Gregorio in a statement today.

Frontier Digital Ventures tends to live up to its name, investing in riskier nations where many investors fear to tread. Last month the VC put US$3.5 million into Pakistan’s PakWheels.

See: Myanmar’s startups are on their own for now, but founders have hope