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The Malaysian online student accommodation marketplace will use the funds to build a team, develop new features and expand regionally

HostelHunting founders

HostelHunting.com, an online student accommodation marketplace in Malaysia, has raised US$500,000 in seed funding, led by Singapore-based KK Fund, with participation from Incubate Fund and Cradle Fund.

The funds will enable the startup to build a team and develop new features for students and landlords, in addition to expanding regionally.

Also Read: It is time for Malaysian startups to look beyond MaGIC

“The funds will allow us to build an even stronger team, enhance our product and really kickstart our regional expansion,” said Keek Wen Khai, Co-founder and CEO of HostelHunting.

HostelHunting was founded by Khai, along with Loke Weng Leong, Joey Lim and Marcus Low. The firm aims to be a safe way to find and book student accommodation. Students can search for their choice of accommodations by area or institution. Detailed photos and descriptions are provided for each listing.

To facilitate the booking process, the platform also enables students and landlords to connect with each other with over a thousand messages being exchanged each month.

Launched in January 2015 with 600 accommodations in a single student area, the startup now claims to have more than 21,000 accommodations in its inventory in the majority of student towns in Malaysia.

Also Read: 500 Startups, Cradle Seed invest in Malaysian startup Involve Asia

HostelHunting expanded into Singapore this month.

KK Fund is a Singapore-based venture capital fund investing in seed stage Internet and mobile startups in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Incubate Fund is a leading seed-stage investment group in Japan — backed by Tencent, Yahoo Japan, Innovation Network Corporation of Japan and other investors.

Also Read: The final K in KK Fund has been revealed

Cradle Fund, an agency under the Ministry of Finance, Malaysia (MOF), is a not-for-profit organisation that manages the RM100 million (US$230 million) Cradle Investment Programme since its inception in 2003.

Image Credit: quant78/Shutterstock

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