Mobilwow gets funding to race Rocket’s Carmudi across Indonesia

Indonesia’s car classifieds site Mobilwow announced today it raised a “high-six-figure” series A funding round from two of Jakarta’s institutional investors. Mobilwow CEO Steven Sugianto did not disclose the identities of the investors, but he did mention that one of them was an early backer in Indonesia’s popular consumer-to-consumer marketplace Tokopedia. The other is a reputable name in the hospital and property development business in the archipelago. He added that both new investors have taken 5 percent equity stakes in Mobilwow.

Online car classifieds is becoming more competitive in Indonesia. The top contenders in the space are foreign-owned, including iCar Asia’s Mobil123 and Rocket Internet’s Carmudi. Meanwhile, CarBay, the Indonesian version of India’s Sequoia-backed CarDekho recently joined the battle.

In terms of traffic, Steven claims Mobilwow is the number one locally owned car classifieds site in the country. He says the site has been getting more than 1 million monthly visits.

See: CarDekho ready to fight Rocket Internet and iCar Asia in Jakarta

New cars first, used cars second

While car classifieds sites seem synonymous with used automobiles, Steven says Mobilwow differentiates itself by focusing on new cars only. “We are number one in the new car section. The next step is to start developing Mobilwow’s used car business. We are also going to expand to Surabaya, Medan, and Bandung,” he explains.

Mobilwow generates revenue in two ways. The first is via paid subscriptions for car dealers and salespeople. They must pay a fee to list their vehicles on Mobilwow. The second is through advertising and promotional banners on the site. Automotive brands can also pay a premium to give their listings more visibility. The site currently has around 3,500 paid subscribers.

“We’ve been able to successfully in bring in big automotive advertisers. Toyota, Nissan, Ford, and more.” he adds. “They see us as the closest portal to their potential customers. They like to advertise on sites that have new cars.”

In terms of revenue, Mobilwow says it is pulling in roughly the same amount of cash as its main competitors. The difference, however, is that Steven says Mobilwow is fully bootstrapped. “We don’t just buy traffic,” he says. “We’ve been very careful, growing organically — slowly but surely.”

Editing by Steven Millward and Terence Lee; lead image from Wikimedia; featured image from Wikimedia