When Rocket Internet first came to Sri Lanka, it was almost unheard of. But once it arrived, the German giant aggressively marketed its platforms to capture the market. Almost four years later, much has changed. Many of its platforms have either been shut down or sold off. The latest one being Lamudi.lk, which was acquired by LankaPropertyWeb.
Why LankaPropertyWeb wanted Lamudi
According to its press release, LankaPropertyWeb being the largest property portal with Lamudi being second. Following the acquisition, the company would own the Lamudi.lk domain, its listings, and all local operations of Lamudi Sri Lanka. Combined, both platforms would list 25,000 properties and aim to generate 70,000 leads for advertisers.
LankaPropertyWeb has acquired Lamudi’s Sri Lankan operations
“With the exponential growth we have experienced over the past decade, this acquisition is only a natural move. Our intent is to create a single destination for all things property in Sri Lanka and this acquisition helps us achieve that vision,” said Daham Gunaratna – Founder and Managing Director of LankaPropertyWeb.
With this acquisition, the company aims to increase its property portfolio. Alongside this, it also aims to offer a better service to its users by improving its platform. LankaPropertyWeb also stated that in 2019, it aims to better connect international investors and expats with local developers. To that end, the company expects the acquisition of Lamudi to bring more visitors and visibility for the ads on its platforms.
Goodbye Rocket Internet?
When Rocket Internet first came to Sri Lanka it launched a bunch of platforms. Kaymu.lk was an online marketplace. Everjobs.lk was a platform to help people find jobs. Carmudi.lk was where you could go to buy a car. Lamudi was where you’d find a house. Later on, Rocket Internet would also bring Daraz to Sri Lanka.
Many of Rocket Internet’s operations in Sri Lanka have either shut down or been sold off
However, almost four years later, much has changed. Everjobs.lk has shut down. Meanwhile, Kaymu.lk was merged with Daraz.lk, which was then acquired by Alibaba last year. And now Lamudi is being acquired by LankaPropertyWeb. However, the German giant is no stranger to such moves. But right now, this leaves Carmudi as the only platform in Sri Lanka owned by Rocket Internet.
At the time of writing, the only remaining Rocket Internet owned company in Sri Lanka is Carmudi
Having raised $10 million last year, Carmudi announced that it would shift its focus to three key markets. These three markets are Indonesia, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. Based on this, we can expect that Carmudi will still be around under Rocket Internet for the near future. However, even regionally, the future of Rocket Internet has been questioned. For now, it looks like Rocket Internet is still here to stay. But for how much longer and whether it’ll thrive is questionable.
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