Kaodim raises $7M for its home services platform in Southeast Asia

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There’s more funding for Southeast Asia’s growing local services space after Kaodim, a Malaysia-based startup that operates in four countries in the region, raised $7 million. Founded three years ago, Kaodim is a service for booking for hiring a range of services that include cleaning, moving, gas delivery, appliance care, and even photography. The round was led by Square Peg Capital, a…

Malaysia’s Kaodim rakes in $4m to improve the Southeast Asian services sector

Malaysia-based startup Kaodim today announced it raised a US$4 million series A round of funding led by Venturra Capital. Other participating investors in this round are Beenext, 500 Startups, and East Ventures. The company says it will use this funding to launch in other major cities in Southeast Asia and expand its product offerings to include other services in the home, lifestyle, wellness, education, and business categories, among others.

New Post has been published on http://www.therakyatpost.com/business/2014/11/15/smartphone-app-helps-find-local-plumbers/

Local site helps you find reliable plumbers

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15:

The Malaysian service sector is about to undergo another shake-up, with plumbers to tutors opening up to customer rankings as they vie to get more jobs.

This twist to the Yellow Pages-styled directory listings, incorporating customer satisfaction ratings for services rendered, is now being offered by Malaysian start-up Kaodim.com.

“In less than two months of Kaodim’s test launch in September, over 500 businesses – consisting of general contractors, professional cleaners, photographers, personal trainers and make-up artists – have signed up to Kaodim’s platform,” the start-up said in a release.

“In the same time period, Kaodim has received over 120 job requests and its service professionals have responded with about 500 quotes and introductions, with many hires.

“All of this was achieved purely through word of mouth and organic social media shares, without any form of paid marketing or advertising.”

Kaodim founders Jeffri Cheong and Choong Fui-Yu said they were practising lawyers for five  years but had always been passionate about disruptive businesses that find innovative and better ways to provide value to the communities in which they operate.

“Through Kaodim’s unique features, we’re certain that it’ll reinvent the marketplace for professional services, making it much more dynamic, progressive and efficient,” said Cheong.

“We believe it’ll lead to improvements in customer service and transparency which are important for both the customers and businesses.”

Fui believes Kaodim solves key pain points customers face by bringing the service professional directly to the customers with all the information they need to help them make the decision to hire.

These include the price to complete the specific job requested, their availability, experience and other relevant information about the service professional.

“What existing platforms give you is a little bit of information, and they expect you to do all the work. They don’t make the actual process of finding and hiring the right person any easier, which is really where the problem lies.

“You’d have to call the service provider, ask what their prices are and whether they’re able and available to meet your requirements. You’d then have to contact a few other providers just to make a comparison. It’s really tedious and inefficient.”

Cheong added: “Gone are the days of asking your friends or family for recommendations for providers, or trawling through the Internet’s hundreds of static directories to hire someone to repair that leak in your house, or take photographs during your wedding.

“People can compare prices for airline tickets and hotels to get the best deals. We don’t see why it should be any different for services which people look for every single day.”

Drawing inspiration from similar sites overseas, including the platform offered by Amazon.com, Kaodim’s founders  say their platform already has a pipeline of over a thousand other service professionals coming on board – from tutors, music teachers and yoga instructors to babysitters.

“There really isn’t a limit to the types of services that Kaodim can cover, and we have no intention of stopping at just a few,” said Fui.

“To us it’s not just about giving out quotations and matching people with professionals. It’s about enhancing the livelihood of businesses,” said Cheong.

“We’re dealing with real lives, people who work hard every day but who don’t have the time, resources or know-how to market and expand their businesses.