Car-seller app gets funding to speed across Indonesia

Indonesia’s capital, often ranked as having the world’s worst traffic, might not be a pleasant place to get around. But it’s a big opportunity for someone involved in selling cars.

And that’s what Rolf Monteiro is doing with his startup.

“Indonesia is selling 1.1 million new cars [per year], but 3.5 million used cars,” says the Dutch entrepreneur, whose parents hail from Indonesia.

Photo credit: Sleepi Alleyne / Pexels

His startup, BeliMobilGue, focuses on the vast used car market, providing an app where car owners can sell their vehicles. It’s not about listing the vehicle and then having to deal with randos asking weird questions. The service is designed as – in Monteiro’s words – “an eBay-like auction” where well-established dealerships are waiting to buy your used car.

And with Jakarta accounting for half the nation’s motors, it makes sense to start the business in the capital.

The startup today announced it raised US$10 million in series A funding, less than two years after the app launched.

Wheeler dealer

“Dealerships spend 85 to 90 percent of their time sourcing cars,” says Monteiro. And that’s where he saw a chance to save them valuable time and resources while also streamlining the frustrating car-selling process for normal folks – a kind of marriage of convenience.

BeliMobilGue, which means “buy my car,” has 30 inspection centers across Jakarta where sellers can book a time to have their cars assessed by technicians. That takes 30 minutes. The assessment report comes with a suggested selling price and, if the owner agrees to that price, triggers an online auction among dealerships across the country.

The winning dealer pays the owner immediately by bank transfer.

“We’re trying to remove as much of the headache as we can,” says Monteiro.

Speeding ahead

For car owners, the entire service is free, and the auction-winning dealership pays for the car inspection.

The startup doesn’t take a cut of the transaction – at least for now.

“We’re not very money-focused at the moment,” states Monteiro. “We’re very much marketplace growth-focused.”

German connection

Available stats:

Series A funding: