April the 25th, 2023 - This newly launched platform's Chiriboo Funderbeam campaign hopes to target and successfully break into the markets of neighbouring Slovenia and Serbia.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Josipa Ban writes, the recently launched Chiriboo platform, the first regional digital tool for the presentation and sale of cars, has so far collected 48 thousand euros of capital through a crowdfunding campaign launched just a few days ago on the Funderbeam platform.

Currently, the largest investor is the company Commondo, Chiriboo's strategic partner, which invested 20 thousand euros. The rest of the investors are anonymous.

The aim is for the initiators of Chiriboo to collect between 100 and 200 thousand euros in the next fourteen days, which is the expected duration of this Chiriboo Funderbeam campaign. The money will then be invested back into the development of the platform and into regional expansion, and the first markets where Chiriboo plans to launch, after Croatia, are those of neighbouring Slovenia and Serbia.

Users and investors

The above was revealed by Marko Stojakovic, who is responsible for investments, finance and partnerships and the development of commercial products at Chiriboo, and is also one of the founders and director of the company Make IT Easy, which developed the MobilityOne software for fleet management.

Behind the Chiriboo project, namely, along with Stojakovic and the rest of the Make IT Easy team, there is a group of experienced experts from various fields. Among them is Juraj Sebalj, a rally driver, who is also one of the best connoisseurs of the automotive market and the general manager of Chiriboo, who plans to invest in a tool that should introduce digitalisation into the still very traditional automotive industry, where customers still prefer to see the vehicle "live" before making a purchase.

Stojakovic stated that with the new Chiriboo Funderbeam campaign, they plan to attract small and medium-sized investors who recognise the potential of the platform. Namely, it is a new platform that is aimed at users, that is, customers for whom it should make buying a car easier and more simple. The money they plan to collect will be enough, according to Stojakovic, for development and operations for the first year, after which they hope for a positive business result. So far, he said, they have invested 300,000 euros in software development alone, and they don't intend to stop there.

"The software and application (app) will be upgraded and we will continue to develop them both for years to come in accordance with the reaction of the market, that is, users and their comments and needs," Stojakovic pointed out.

The funderbeam experience

Currently, Chiriboo offers an overview of the prices, photos, technical data and equipment composition for more than 3000 models available on the Croatian automotive market. The main advantages of the platform's founders are two things - the smart "Search Engine" and the "Comparator". The smart "Search Engine" enables a simple search for models, and the "Comparator" enables their comparison. In addition to that, they have an enviable base of cars ready for quick delivery.

When asked why they decided to launch the Chiriboo Funderbeam campaign, Stojakovic replied that in general they have a good experience with the platform because they have already completed two rounds of crowdfunding on it with Make IT Easy.

For more, check out our business section.

April the 11th, 2023 - The Croatian Chiriboo platform is the very first regional digital tool for the purchase of cars, and after three months of experimental work, it has finally been made available for public use.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Chiriboo is now available for public use, and with a very impressive database. The Croatian Chiriboo platform has the prices, photos, technical data and equipment composition for more than 3000 models of vehicle currently available here on the Croatian market.

From Chiriboo, which was started by well-known names from the automotive, financial and developer scene - Juraj Sebalj, Darin Jankovic, Marko Stojakovic, Mladen Herceg, and Damir Skrtic - they state several advantages of this tool. They claim that it is unique in how it actually works, because searching for a model with the help of an intelligent "Search Engine" is simple, because a smart "Comparator" enables the comparison of different models, and also because it is possible to find a car according to your own very personal preferences. On top of all of that, everything is made that much easier because the Croatian Chiriboo platform already has a database of cars, which was mentioned above, ready and waiting for quick delivery to customers.

"At the moment, users can use the Chiriboo tool completely free of charge, and in the near future we will offer the service of finding the best offer according to specific user criteria," they say.

The Croatian Chiriboo platform is otherwise a virtual address of sorts that will connect its users with various car dealers, car dealerships, financial services, insurers, and the offer will constantly expand to all domains of mobility.

For more on Croatian companies, startups, entrepreneurs and innovations, make sure to check out our dedicated business section.

January 25, 2023 - The conventional vehicle sales market in Croatia is stepping into the digital era. The Chiriboo platform is backed by well-known faces of the automotive, financial, and developer scene, including Juraj Sebalj, Darin Jankovic, Marko Stojakovic, Mladen Herceg, and Damir Skrtic.

As Poslovni writes, digitization has changed how we buy and is slowly making its way into the automotive industry. Of course, everyone still likes to look at cars physically before buying one. But that, too should change with new digital solutions, and one of these, a local one, should be on the market within a month.

"We developed the first regional digital platform for presenting and selling cars. This is our answer to the industry's requirements, which should significantly simplify and shorten the purchase time," said Darin Jankovic, CEO of Chiriboo, at the first public presentation of the platform.

Compare and decide

It will make it easier for the industry by bringing in new customers inclined to digital tools, added Jankovic, without the need for them to invest in developing their own solutions and marketing. In addition to the presentation and purchase of a car, Chiriboo also provides an overview of various financing and insurance options.

Juraj Sebalj, general manager of Chiriboo and one of the best experts on the car market, complained that buying a car can take too much time. "With the Chiriboo platform, you can do it in only seven minutes," demonstrated Sebalj in front of the many gathered participants of the event.

In addition to the visual display of the car, which can be rotated 360 degrees, the users can change the colour and rims. They also receive all the technical data and information on additional equipment for each model.

Another advantage of the digital platform is the compare tool for filtering, so the user can easily and quickly get an overview of, for example, all hybrids, all cars in the Golf class, or those with a trunk larger than 600 liters... Or they can opt to compare options by power, consumption, etc.

"In addition to technical information, you can compare much more complex categories such as comfort, safety, entertainment, connectivity, dimensions, performance, exterior, interior, drive.

The goal is to expand

But the most important thing is that by using Chiriboo, the user immediately receives information on whether the desired car is available, as well as a price calculator that contains financing and insurance offers," explained Sebalj. The engine of the platform, Jankovic added, is the database. It works based on official car price lists, which will be regularly checked and updated.

The platform, explained the CEO of Chiriboo, will be free for the customers. "We will create several categories to give users certain privileges, but we will do that in the second phase. We will finance ourselves by participating in the success of our partners," said Jankovic. Their partners are general representatives and their dealers.

To begin with, by the end of the year, they hope to take a few percent of the car sales market, but their hopes are truly high because all research shows that the online sales market will grow, as well as the overall market, which with 240 billion dollars, according to estimates, should rise to 722 billion by 2030.

Also, the Chiriboo team is not only counting on conquering the domestic market but, much more broadly, specifically, the Adriatic region. First, the expansion should start in Slovenia, and they are working on entering foreign markets through franchises. For now, they explain, they have about five major foreign competitors, and they all focus on the German market. Chiriboo is a platform that was developed in a year and a half.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated Lifestyle section.