Exclusive: 🇮🇩 proptech firm bags funding from Sinar Mas unit

Jendela360, an Indonesian proptech startup, has raised an undisclosed amount of series A funding from a subsidiary of Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas Group.

(From left) Jendela360 founders Kiki Guzali, Daniel Rannu, and Ade Indra / Photo credit: Jendela360

Founded in 2016, Jendela360 is a digital property brokerage that initially focused on long-term apartment rentals. It was one of the earliest startups in Indonesia that used 360-degree virtual tours to attract customers. About six months ago, it expanded into the property buying and selling business.

The company was established by serial entrepreneur Daniel Rannu, former real estate advisor Kiki Guzali, and Ade Indra, who has experience in the hospitality business.

According to a statement, Jendela360 saw a 4x growth in sales and revenue in the past 18 months amid the pandemic. “I can say that we are the largest offline-to-online proptech that handles buying and rental in Indonesia,” Rannu told Tech in Asia.

Despite its quick growth, the firm said that it is operationally profitable.

Jendela360 currently operates in the Jakarta and Tangerang areas and has around 95 employees. It plans to raise more funding soon to fuel nationwide expansion in the next two years.

Riding the pandemic wave

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit Indonesia, Rannu admitted that he was worried it would cause an armageddon for the country’s property industry. “We saw the travel industry going down. So I thought, ‘Who will buy property in this hard time?'” he recalled.

Internally, the company’s sales went down by 30%, so Rannu decided to downsize the team, especially the marketing division. However, he soon realized that the pandemic would actually provide tailwinds for the industry.

For instance, it pushed people to try digital solutions when looking for properties. “They have no option to come directly to the property, so our virtual tours feature is the best that they can use,” Rannu said.

Other than that, property developers also adjusted to the health crisis by building real estate with “post-pandemic” designs, such as the availability of space to work and exercise from home.

With the positive trend, Jendela360 moved to the property buying and selling business and offered shorter-term apartment rentals. The firm used to only process one-year rentals, but now it also accepts demands for three-month leases.

Staying away from the marketplace model

Before raising its series A round, Jendela360 had raised US$1.2 million from two rounds of funding. In 2018, it received seed funding from Prasetia Dwidharma and Everhaus, which was followed by a US$1 million pre-series A round led by Beenext in 2020.

The key to surviving with a smaller war chest, Rannu said, is the company’s business model, which focuses on the entire transaction – from negotiations to payments. This allows the firm to get higher margins as opposed to companies that employ the marketplace model, which connects customers with property agents and only gets revenue from subscription fees.