Bali-based Indonesian online search and booking platform for beauty and wellness services, Spavista, has received angel investment which will be used to expand its operation.

The US$160,000 (€122,000, £97,000) of funding came from the founding team of Singapore’s automotive marketplace called SGCarMart. The cash will be spent on hiring staff in Jakarta as Spavista focuses on acquiring more partners in the capital city area, according to techinasia.com.

“I believe SGCarMart will be able to provide some marketing and an execution strategy, as they have been in the online marketplace for years,” cofounder of Spavista Ken Suriafur said.

Spavista was launched in May 2013 and by April of this year, the company has acquired around 200 partners, located mainly in Jakarta. The company earns money mainly from booking commissions and premium listings. It is now, however, developing white-label mobile apps for their partners – applications for mobile devices that its partners can rebrand and use to interact with clients. Spavista will monetise these through annual subscriptions and will start marketing this programme in the coming months.

Suriafur commented that challenges to running the platform include educating the market and changing its current attitude. “Our products may be too early for the market in Indonesia but our whole team believes the market in Indonesia is an early adopter,” said Suriafur.

Although Suriafur claims that Spavista does not face direct competition in Indonesia, indirect competitors include Groupon Indonesia and LivingSocial Indonesia.