OLX Indonesia rival Jualo bags seed funding from two local VCs

Indonesian marketplace startup Jualo announced today that it secured seed funding of an undisclosed amount from local venture capital firms Mountain Kejora Ventures (formerly Mountain SEA Ventures) and Alpha JWC Ventures, a new VC fund from Chandra Tjan, Jefrey Joe, and Will Ongkowidjaja.

Jualo competes with the likes of OLX in the archipelago. In the past, Jualo’s buy-and-sell classifieds format encouraged users to bargain, negotiate, or even just exchange goods and services without payment. The company’s Dutch founder Chaim Fetter claims to have 16 years of ecommerce experience, having built several similar businesses in Holland. According to him, Jualo was also the first eclassifieds business that pioneered geo-search functionality in Indonesia. Fetter adds that Jualo’s business model is somewhat of a hybrid between a classic eclassifieds business and a marketplace platform.

Since launching in 2014, Jualo has grown fast, according to a statement, among Indonesia’s mass-market population. Fetter says the site signed up hundreds of thousands users and facilitated more than US$100 million in transactions over the last few months. The fresh funds will be used to expand Jualo’s team, accelerate product development, and grow its marketing efforts in the archipelago.

Chaim Fetter, founder and CEO of Jualo

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“We believe strongly in the Jualo Team. They really understand how to match an eclassifieds business model with the specific demands of the Indonesian consumer,” says Mountain Kejora’s founder Sebastian Togelang. “We strongly believe that Jualo will play a key role in this market segment, and will take on the position as market leader soon.”

Jualo provides an environment to trade second hand goods. A personalized inbox, geo-search functionality, and user verification and ratings are a few ways the site differentiates itself, according to Fetter. Jualo claims to have been generating revenue since day one from a two-pronged business model that collects from both users and advertisers.

“The second-hand online marketplace has tremendous potential,” says Tjan from Alpha JWC Ventures. “We believe Chaim and the Jualo team really understand the market and took the right approach[…]” Tjan is also managing partner of one of the East Ventures funds that operate in Indonesia, separate from that of Willson Cuaca. Tech in Asia is reaching out to him to learn more about Alpha JWC Ventures (Disclosure: East Ventures invests in Tech in Asia. See our ethics page).

In addition to his ecomerce work, Fetter also runs the Peduli Anak Foundation in East Indonesia. The non-profit organization operates a large project area near Mataram, which provides shelter, healthcare, and education facilities to underprivileged children.