Malaysian car-sharing startup Moovby raises $500k for regional expanison

Malaysia’s peer-to-peer car-sharing platform Moovby announced that it has secured around US$500,000 from angel investors and strategic partners, bringing its total funding to US$660,000.

The startup plans to use the new funds to expand into other Southeast Asian markets, particularly in Singapore and Thailand, this year.

Moovby Indonesia country head Joni Ali Romadlon (left) and CEO Nik Muhammad Amin/ Photo credit: Moovby

Founded in 2017, the Kuala Lumpur-based company operates a marketplace where travelers can rent vehicles from a community of local car owners.

In 2018, Moovby expanded to Indonesia, which has a market size of over 2 billion ringgit (US$485.3 million) in total rental revenue and a population of almost 300 million, according to a statement.

To date, it has more than 3,000 vehicles across Indonesia, in places including Jakarta, Bandung, Bali, as well as all the major cities in Malaysia.

The company has formed a partnership with Traveloka to become one of the online travel agency’s car suppliers in Indonesia. With the partnership, Moovby claims to have received thousands of bookings monthly through Traveloka.

“This capital accelerates our ability to build upon partnerships and increase marketing efforts, further strengthening our ability to enable as many people as possible to share their cars,” said Nik Muhammad Amin, founder and CEO at Moovby.

Moovby previously received US$150,000 in grants and funding from investment entities Cradle and Teraju. Most recently, Singapore-based VC firm and startup accelerator Accelerating Asia announced that Moovby was one of the 10 regional startups to receive US$74,000 in growth funding.

The startup said it is raising more funds to ensure a strategic and smooth entry into new markets.