Adain co-founder Charles Lin (second from right in the back row) with his team members
Charles Lin successfully ran a marketplace for bike, car, private jet and yacht rentals Automo out of Indonesia until COVID-19 struck early last year. The business got hit when the pandemic severely affected the transportation industry and kept people confined to their homes.
As the situation went from bad to worse, Lin’s team started looking for new opportunities rather than waiting for the pandemic to subside. After days of brainstorming and deliberations, they zeroed in on an idea: an online platform to connect users with local service providers for everything they need.
“The initial idea of Adain was conceived internally, and later, my wife and brother-in-law chipped in to help brainstorm and streamline our vision and plans,” Lin said. “We started building the mobile app at the beginning of 2021 and released it for the public in September 2021.”
Adain, roughly translated as “everything available”, is designed to bring value to anyone and everyone in Indonesia — from small business owners, big organisations and freelancers to homeowners.
While buying products online is easy, finding service providers online is still hard. The sector is fragmented, with many providers relying on product e-commerce platforms to advertise their businesses.
Also Read: Recommend Group to expand on-demand home, local services across SEA with US$4M Series A
This is the problem that Adain aims to tackle.
“We are a Carousell-like platform. However, unlike Carousell, we focus on hyperlocal needs, apart from focusing on services, to connect providers and users much more efficiently. Smaller providers can also gain exposure to users who need their services in areas where big providers are not able to provide the service,” he elaborated.
How it works
A user can open up the app and select a potential category that he/she may need help with—for example, cleaning services. Based on his/her locations, the platform will automatically list all the details of the vendors. One can scroll through the list and find the nearest one. This allows the user to see which providers are located where. He/she can then message the service provider directly to check for availability, price and book a time slot.
“Our target audience is anyone and everyone in Indonesia, where freelancers, small business owners and large corporations offer their services to people. Users can sort through providers in a transparent and easy-to-navigate app or quickly post their needs for providers that have the right expertise,” Lin explained.
Adain is designed as a bi-directional platform where businesses can actively find new potential customers through the platform instead of waiting for enquiries. This way, it is easier for users to get quotations or offers for their needs that saves time and effort.
At the moment, Adain focuses on solving problems that people face daily, such as cleaning, technical works, home renovation, automotive and tutoring services. The company charges no commission. Lin claims that currently, Adain has more than 400 service providers focused on home needs on its app.
Also Read: Recommend Group to expand on-demand home, local services across SEA with US$4M Series A
The company plans to add on-demand services to generate revenues when it has a bigger pool of quality providers in different categories. “We will start monetising when we roll out our on-demand services. Users won’t have to scroll through the options manually but get an assigned provider based on their criteria.”
The firm started off with the three key cities in Java, namely Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya. “We are slowly acquiring vendors outside of Java, as our hyperlocal model will provide value and opportunities for users and providers across the whole of Indonesia,” Lin shared. “We already have plans to expand to Singapore, as we believe the high-density population similar to Jakarta is ripe for a hyperlocal model of connecting users to providers.”
Adain has already onboarded an angel investor to support its expansion and growth. “This investor came on board after a meeting of just 30 minutes. He wants to change the way services are acquired, similar to how Carousell altered the way used products are sold, or Tokopedia changed the way Indonesians shop today.”
The startup is currently in talks with a handful of VCs to raise a seed financing round. “We want to realise our vision of helping millions of Indonesians to get easier access to services for any headaches they may have at home or office,” he went on.
In this segment, the company could face competition from the likes of Recommend, which provides on-demand home and local services. Recommend recently bagged US$4M in a Series A funding.
What are your plans with your existing venture Automo?
“Automo has been placed on a hiatus due to the restrictions in movements within Indonesia. We facilitated enquiries for more niche demands for yachts and private jets during the pandemic instead of daily rides for cars,” he disclosed.
“Now that Indonesia is slowly returning to normalcy, we are planning to reopen our app for booking daily rides in January 2022 when the festive periods are over and people start going back to the office. In the meantime, we are focusing on the more niche demands for non-work related transports, as people start venturing to local attractions such as island hopping and travel in private jets for smaller groups,” he concluded.
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Image Credit: Adain
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