Lamudi's Strategy to Maintain the Relevance of the "Proptech Listing" Platform in Indonesia

Lamudi believes in the bright prospects of the property business in Indonesia, considering that this country has a large and growing middle class population. Through the follow-up funding of $200 million (approximately 3,11 trillion Rupiah) received by their parent company, Emerging Markets Property Group (EMPG), the majority will be directed to the development of its business in Indonesia.

This funding was obtained from an equity fund company from the United States, Affinity Partners. After this announcement, EMPG will prepare for an IPO in the near future which has been planned for a long time.

In a joint interview DailySocial.idLamudi Indonesia CEO Mart Polman said that although his party could not specify the percentage of investment directed to Indonesia, he emphasized that Indonesia was an important country for EMPG and he saw positive prospects for business growth here.

"Therefore, EMPG will continue to strive to invest in Indonesia and contribute to national economic growth," said Polman.

He continued, the fresh funds will later be used to strengthen the Lamudi Indonesia team by recruiting new talents with a focus on helping all property industry players. The goal is to help them run their business efficiently, and focus on technological innovations that will make it easier for Indonesians to find and find their dream home.

In the last two years, Lamudi Indonesia's business is claimed to have grown from 200 to 900 employees in the fourth quarter of this year. So far, EMPG has more than 500 engineers spread in various countries, such as Romania, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, and the Philippines.

Then, at the beginning of this year Lamudi acquired the property business OLX Indonesia which has increased its users to 22 million people and the number of users listings property translucent more than 1,35 million every month. This achievement is claimed to make Lamudi Indonesia the proptech largest in Indonesia.

As part of the digital property ecosystem, Lamudi said it has more than 30 thousand agent networks, is trusted by more than 400 developers, and partners with 10 national banks.

Lamudi's founder Kiann Moini said, "Lamudi.co.id in Indonesia is one of our main businesses, EMPG remains optimistic about the potential of the Indonesian market because of its growing middle class and large population. EMPG wants to continue to be committed to helping Indonesia's economic growth."

In this regard, it is hoped that the contribution of business from Indonesia will boost the overall growth of the EMPG business. EMPG CEO Imran Ali Khan said that his company is targeting a double profit increase and maintaining a positive EBITDA for the last two years which has been running consistently.

“We are very optimistic to continue this good growth. With this funding, the company [EMPG] will focus on preparing for an IPO in the near future, which has always been part of our grand vision,” said Khan.

Train listings property

Polman continued, since the pandemic the biggest change that companies have seen regarding trends in the industry is the increasingly accelerated adoption of technology. Presence proptech assisting in facilitating property search needs that were previously constrained by restricted mobility during the pandemic. The company's internal data recorded an increase in the trend of property search within the platform growing 36,8% on a year-on-year in June 2020 to June 2021.

Entering the recovery period, his party sees the importance of the role of each stakeholder to jointly unlock the potential of new property seekers or Next Generation Property Buyers who are aged 25-44 years. This generation is 56,9% of Lamudi Indonesia users who demand ease of property search due to the current rapid technological developments.

“Therefore, it is very important to balance the needs of Next Generation Property Buyers by preparing all workers in the property sector with digital literacy so that both parties understand that the journey of property ownership is increasingly integrated due to digitalization.”

According to him, Lamudi will continue to strengthen its position as a provider listing property in ecosystem proptech Indonesia. To that end, his party continues to improve partnerships with developers, agents, and banks to ensure that users get the most complete property choices according to the needs of the wider community as well as funding options that suit the diverse financial conditions of users.

"We prioritize providing the easiest and most trusted experience for Indonesian property seekers in searching for their dream property," he concluded.

Lately, it's starting to get a lot of players proptech that provide solutions beyond listings, such as Cabin which focuses on simplifying the construction process by utilizing modularity, pre-fabrication, and wood as the main material. Then, there my tan which builds platforms to facilitate online property purchases and transactions; IDEAL who have ambitions to democratize the mortgage application process, and many more.

The players above have been supported with early-stage funding from a number of investors, namely East Ventures, AC Ventures, and Ciputra Group.

Quote from SimilarWeb, Lamudi's position as of September 2022 was visited up to 1,5 million times with an average visit duration of 03:28 minutes. Lamudi position for site listing property in Indonesia is ranked 5th. Compared to its closest competitors, namely 99.co and Rumah.com, Lamudi's ranking is lower.

They are in first and second place respectively. For the same period, 99.co site visitors reached 20 million visits. However, the average visit duration is shorter, at 01:27 minutes. As for Rumah.com, it was visited up to 4,1 million times with an average visit duration of 02:47 minutes.