Indonesian ‘Uber for services’ raises series A

Photo credit: lanjar anjar.

Services marketplace Seekmi has raised a seven-digit series A round led by CyberAgent Ventures, the startup announced today.

Seekmi plans to use the funds to expand to new cities across Indonesia. Now, it’s available only in the greater Jakarta and Bandung. It plans to launch in Bali, Medan, Surabaya, Semarang, and Makassar in the coming months.

When the startup’s site went live in August 2015, it had a database of “between 100 and 500 service providers,” co-founder and CEO Nayoko Wicaksono said at the time.

The range of service professionals on Seekmi’s platform is very broad. It has handymen like electricians and painters, and also sports and language tutors, photographers, and designers. It even has health consultants. Service seekers can launch a request on the site and will be contacted by providers that best match their need.

It’s a concept similar to Thumbtack in the US.

A year on, Seekmi says it now has 5,000 service professionals and has counted over 250,000 searches. The total number of matches Seekmi enabled thus far is confidential. “It’s in the thousands to ten thousand,” Nayoko lets on.

The category most in demand is home repairs – specifically technicians for air conditioning units.

Focus on improving livelihoods

Other participating investors in Seekmi’s new round are Ventek Ventures, Convergence Ventures, Kinara, Grupara, and Balancop.

With the backing from Kinara, Seekmi is now partly funded through an “impact investor.”

Impact funds are just like regular VC funds, but they tend to pay closer attention to the sustainability and positive societal impact of their investee.

With Kinara’s help, Seekmi introduced new practices, like monthly surveys that help determine to what extent Seekmi contributes to improving the livelihoods of its service providers.

Competitive environment

Similar startups are booming in Indonesia at the moment. The country’s large population and painfully fragmented services landscape make it an attractive opportunity for young businesses.

Among Seekmi’s rivals are Carijasa, Monolia, and Ahlijasa. Competitors from Malaysia are also keen on getting a foothold in Indonesia. Kaodim is known locally as Beres and RecomN’s Indonesian site is called Sejasa.