East Ventures Invests in Indonesian Rental Marketplace CUMI

27 September 2019

CUMI, translates as “just renting” in Indonesian colloquial, was inspired by the unnecessary purchase the founders often make to support their travels

CUMI (Cuma Minjem), a rental marketplace platform encompassing multiple categories on Android devices and the web, announced that it has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from East Ventures.

The investment, the company said, will be used to accelerate CUMI’s mission to speed up their user’s growth, acquire more talents, and expand their coverage in Indonesia.

It stands for cuma minjem or “just renting” in Indonesian slang.

The three founders of CUMI, Christian Sugiono, Pandu Wirawan, and Yazid Faizin shared that as travellers, they often have reservations when it comes to purchasing items that will only be needed for a short time.

Renting from a trustworthy and accessible rental vendor is a better alternative, which resulted in the founders creating CUMI.

Also Read: The Opportunity of Startup Ecosystem in Indonesia

The sharing economy of Indonesia, that includes services that CUMI offers, has been projected to grow from US$15 billion in 2014 to US$335 billion in 2025.

“The trend of sharing economy has long shifted the behaviour of generation today. Enforced with the influence of social media and access to information, we witness a fast-growing demand from millennials today to publish themselves even more and have as many experiences as they could while keeping them on budget. CUMI was born to allow its users to access resources without necessarily purchasing or owning them, as well as opening a new opportunity to fully utilise and monetise their excess or idle inventory,” said Christian Sugiono, Co-Founder and CEO of CUMI.

Yazid Faizin, CMO of CUMI, explained, “We are providing a platform that streamlined the process of market entry for renters, facilitates searchable listings for consumers, and keeping everything under one roof to smoothen customer’s discovery journey.”

CUMI aggregate vendors from 12 categories such as Automotive, Fashion, Pocket WiFi, Cameras, Games and Toys, Books, Office, and Stationery and Electronics and Gadget. CUMI require vendors to pass identity checks utilising phone number, bank account confirmation, and ID card verifications.

First launched in May 2018, CUMI claimed that it has gained more than 5,000 users and 500 verified vendors from various locations among Greater Jakarta Area, Surabaya, and Bali.

Just dubbed as the most active VC with staggering 12 funding raised by May 2019, the latest funding it raised was for Base, a personalised direct-to-consumer (DTC) beauty and wellness company.

Source: e27