Jendela360 bags $1m to make virtual tours the ‘new normal’ of property buying

Jendela360, an Indonesian proptech startup, said it has raised US$1 million in a funding round led by Beenext. Prasetia Dwidharma, Everhaus, and some strategic investors from the property consulting space also participated in the round.

The latest investment comes after Jendela360 secured seed money from Everhaus in 2018.

Jendela co-founders (from left): Daniel Tanri Rannu, Kiki Guzali, and Ade Indra / Photo credit: Jendela360

Founded in 2016, Jendela360 operates a marketplace that connects clients, landlords, and agents. It features various digital solutions such as 360-degree virtual tours, digital signature support, integrated electronic payment methods, and an AI price prediction system.

The startup will use the new funds to enhance the platform’s online-to-offline approach by recruiting agents and developing a more thorough training system for them, Jendela360 co-founder and chief operating officer Kiki Guzali said.

What problem is it solving? According to the startup, property seekers usually spend too much time talking with three or more different agents. They also deal with scattered and incomplete information and poor-quality images when searching for available properties. Agents, meanwhile, need standardization on the service level and better brokerage support.

These are the pain points that Jendela360 is trying to solve. It also wants to make 360-degree virtual tours the “new normal” for Indonesia’s property market.

“We are the first to introduce 360-degree virtual tours for property viewing, and we are an O2O proptech company that basically does end-to-end approach,” Daniel Rannu, CEO and co-founder of Jendela360, told Tech in Asia.

Through the platform, users can browse listings, contact an agent, view properties, negotiate prices, sign a contract, and make payments, he added.

The company, however, isn’t the only startup looking to digitize the property space. One local player is Travelio, which raised US$18 million in series B money from Gobi Partners, Samsung, and Temasek’s Pavilion Capital late last year. There’s also the Kakao Ventures-backed Mamikos and Infokost.

Meanwhile, across the region, Singapore-based PropertyGuru claims it takes up over 75% market share in the city-state. It also operates in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam. It’s working to shift from a property marketplace to a “trust platform,” venturing into home financing just recently.

What are its challenges? As a platform business, Jendela360 continues to work towards balancing the number of listings with customer demand. This was particularly crucial for the company during its early days when an end-to-end standardized service was still new to Indonesians, Rannu shared.

However, the company said it has become easier to educate people about innovation. The Covid-19 pandemic has also forced many to turn to digital solutions.

What’s the opportunity? In Indonesia, the real estate market was worth US$30 billion last year, according to the company. To acquire a significant market share, Jendela360 aims to become a full-stack property platform that supports the buying and renting of residential as well as commercial properties.