Singapore startup 99.co buys Indonesia's property portal

Singapore

SINGAPORE property search startup 99.co has acquired Indonesia's UrbanIndo, said to be the largest property portal in Indonesia with over 1.2 million active listings,

The buyout - the sum of which was undisclosed - is part of 99.co's goal to build a "great real estate technology company in South-east Asia" over the next 10 years, its chief Darius Cheung told The Business Times on Monday.

"Indonesia is the region's largest market, and naturally the most important over the next 10 to 20 years. Indonesia also sees the most tech disruption, and has a culture that welcomes change."

With the acquisition, consumers in both Singapore and Indonesia can access 99.co for all property-related transactions.

Both 99.co and UrbanIndo will also create "exciting new products" to serve buyers, agents and developers, said Petra Barus, chief technology officer of UrbanIndo.

When asked about synergies, Mr Cheung said that UrbanIndo's consumer-facing property portal complements 99.co's existing business of a distribution platform for developers in Indonesia.

"The UrbanIndo team has built up critical leadership in product, listings and consumer demand that will put us on a 10 times growth trajectory in Indonesia."

99.co first entered the Indonesian market in 2016 as part of its expansion across South-east Asia, with offices in Jakarta and Surabaya that focused on the new homes segment. To date, 99.co has reportedly gained the support of over 4,000 property agents and key partner agencies such as Century21 and ERA Indonesia.

Mr Cheung noted that Singapore remains an important country for the startup despite its small domestic market. "In terms of market size for a property portal, it might surprise many that Singapore is as large a market as Indonesia currently."

This is due to the high prices of properties, and the maturity of the real estate industry here, he said.

In 2017, Singapore reportedly recorded some US$60 billion in transaction value and US$800 million in real estate agent commission just in the residential market, Mr Cheung added.

Since its 2015 launch, 99.co has amassed over 150,000 active home listings, and raised funding of over US$10.1 million from investors including 500 Startups, Golden Gate Ventures, East Ventures, Sequoia India and Eduardo Saverin.

The startup plans to expand into other key regional markets, including Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the second half of 2018.