Online services portal Kaodim raises $7m for marketing and expansion

The Kaodim team. Photo credit: Kaodim.

Kaodim Group – which runs online marketplaces for on-demand services from providers including plumbers, photographers, cleaners, and personal trainers – has raised US$7 million in its latest funding round, the company has announced.

Australia’s Square Peg Capital co-led the round alongside an affiliate of Shanghai-based SIG Asia Investments – part of US investment firm Susquehanna International Group (SIG).

Since launching in November 2014, Kaodim – which takes its name from the Cantonese phrase “搞掂” (gaau dim), meaning “job done” – has expanded its presence throughout the region. It operates under the Gawin brand in the Philippines, and as Beres in Indonesia.

Users can request a service through the startup’s website, and providers can respond with a proposal. Kaodim charges service providers a fee each time they respond to a user request.

Recently, the company has also introduced new features. Launched in September last year, Kaodim Direct links users instantly with a highly rated service provider for a fixed package price. The feature is available for select services, such as house cleaning and air-con servicing.

The startup’s Kaodim Pro app enables closer interaction between customers and service providers by allowing them to connect directly through a Kaodim-designed “white label” platform.

In a statement, Kaodim managing director Jeffri Cheong claimed that many of the startup’s partner service providers have experienced 40 to 50 percent monthly growth from using the app.

Kaodim co-founders Choong Fui-Yu, CEO (L), and Jeffri Cheong, MD (R). Photo credit: Kaodim.

The startup said it will use this latest funding to notch up its marketing efforts while also further expanding its services throughout Southeast Asia, where it faces competitors including RecomN, Seekmi, and ServisHero.

Today’s announcement follows Kaodim’s US$4 million series A round in November 2015 and a US$550,000 seed round in February that year.

Kaodim’s existing backers include 500 Startups, East Ventures, and Venturra Capital, among others.