reporter2
09-05-14, 17:49
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/archive/saturday/specials/property/looking-apartment-rent-find-it-easily-99co-20140508
Published May 08, 2014
Looking for an apartment to rent? Find it easily on 99.co
New start-up gets $700K in seed funding from VCs
By Jacquelyn Cheok
[email protected] @JacCheokBT
[SINGAPORE] Just five months after launching room rental site Homie.co, serial entrepreneur Darius Cheung is back with his newest start-up 99.co - an apartment rental site, and also Homie's sister site and parent company.
99.co, which lists entire apartments in Singapore for rent (not just rooms, like on Homie.co), has secured $700,000 in seed funding from various venture capital (VC) firms, including 500 Start-ups, East Ventures, Fenox VC and Golden Gate Ventures.
According to Mr Cheung, this was inspired by his desire to reform the local property search market, which he claims has great potential for disruption.
This is why 99.co seeks to be the simplest way for users to find their next home, said Mr Cheung.
For one thing, all listings on the site will be reviewed and vetted to ensure accuracy and quality, and accompanied with high-resolution photos so that renters can have a good sense of the apartment even before scheduling a visit.
Additional benefits include a visually appealing site design, map-based listings, an easy calculation of commute time from the apartment to any location, and an automated system that can schedule viewings with agents and landlords.
The site also showcases popular neighbourhoods like Chinatown and Holland Village, with current information on each neighbourhood's unique lifestyle, attractions, food options and rental market.
"We created 99.co to make the apartment rental process an honest, transparent and delightful experience for everyone: renters, landlords and agents," said Mr Cheung.
The site's free listing service and listing process will certainly appeal to agents, especially the newer ones who manage fewer properties and can do with more exposure, said Tey Ying Hwee, sales manager at SLP Realty.
But 99.co could attract more seasoned agents too, if it allows them to plot existing listing data from PropertyGuru or has secured a sizeable user base, Ms Tey added.
Meanwhile, Mr Cheung said the company is still consulting stakeholders on what makes a good revenue model, but believes it would be to take a small fee for every successful transaction, rather than sell subscriptions or ad space like most traditional websites do.
99.co (comprising Homie.co) is Mr Cheung's third start-up since 2005. That was the year he founded mobile security company tenCube, which later got acquired by security giant McAfee in 2010. In 2012, Mr Cheung founded bill- splitting service app BillPin, which one year later acquired larger Seattle- based rival BillMonk for an undisclosed sum.
Published May 08, 2014
Looking for an apartment to rent? Find it easily on 99.co
New start-up gets $700K in seed funding from VCs
By Jacquelyn Cheok
[email protected] @JacCheokBT
[SINGAPORE] Just five months after launching room rental site Homie.co, serial entrepreneur Darius Cheung is back with his newest start-up 99.co - an apartment rental site, and also Homie's sister site and parent company.
99.co, which lists entire apartments in Singapore for rent (not just rooms, like on Homie.co), has secured $700,000 in seed funding from various venture capital (VC) firms, including 500 Start-ups, East Ventures, Fenox VC and Golden Gate Ventures.
According to Mr Cheung, this was inspired by his desire to reform the local property search market, which he claims has great potential for disruption.
This is why 99.co seeks to be the simplest way for users to find their next home, said Mr Cheung.
For one thing, all listings on the site will be reviewed and vetted to ensure accuracy and quality, and accompanied with high-resolution photos so that renters can have a good sense of the apartment even before scheduling a visit.
Additional benefits include a visually appealing site design, map-based listings, an easy calculation of commute time from the apartment to any location, and an automated system that can schedule viewings with agents and landlords.
The site also showcases popular neighbourhoods like Chinatown and Holland Village, with current information on each neighbourhood's unique lifestyle, attractions, food options and rental market.
"We created 99.co to make the apartment rental process an honest, transparent and delightful experience for everyone: renters, landlords and agents," said Mr Cheung.
The site's free listing service and listing process will certainly appeal to agents, especially the newer ones who manage fewer properties and can do with more exposure, said Tey Ying Hwee, sales manager at SLP Realty.
But 99.co could attract more seasoned agents too, if it allows them to plot existing listing data from PropertyGuru or has secured a sizeable user base, Ms Tey added.
Meanwhile, Mr Cheung said the company is still consulting stakeholders on what makes a good revenue model, but believes it would be to take a small fee for every successful transaction, rather than sell subscriptions or ad space like most traditional websites do.
99.co (comprising Homie.co) is Mr Cheung's third start-up since 2005. That was the year he founded mobile security company tenCube, which later got acquired by security giant McAfee in 2010. In 2012, Mr Cheung founded bill- splitting service app BillPin, which one year later acquired larger Seattle- based rival BillMonk for an undisclosed sum.