Prelo

Prelo was an Indonesian C2C marketplace specializing in the sale and rental of pre-owned branded goods. Founded in 2015 by Fransiska Hadiwidjana, the Bandung-based company provided a mobile-first platform for users to transact secondhand items, with an initial focus on fashion and cosmetics that later expanded to include gadgets and books. The business model centered on facilitating secure transactions through an escrow system, addressing a key concern in the peer-to-peer market. Prelo was established with a sustainability-driven mission to reduce waste by extending the life of consumer goods.

The company's journey began as Kleora, an e-commerce startup targeting female consumers. After facing challenges, including issues with counterfeit products, the venture was rebranded and relaunched as Prelo in late 2015. This pivot involved broadening the target market and implementing a more robust curation process to ensure product authenticity, utilizing a combination of an internal team and a proprietary algorithm to identify suspicious items. Founder Fransiska Hadiwidjana brought a strong technical background to the company, having graduated from the Institute of Technology Bandung and participated in programs at Singularity University, with experience at Microsoft and Google Summer of Code. Her entrepreneurial drive was evident early on, and her experience co-founding a biomedical startup in Silicon Valley informed her approach to building Prelo in the Indonesian market.

In October 2018, the Indonesian e-commerce giant Bukalapak executed an 'acqui-hire' of Prelo. This strategic move was primarily aimed at acquiring Prelo's skilled team, including Hadiwidjana, who subsequently joined Bukalapak as Head of Business. While Bukalapak's official statement clarified that it was a talent acquisition rather than a full company purchase, this effectively marked the end of Prelo's independent operations. At the time of the transaction, Prelo's platform was still operational, but its future as a standalone entity became uncertain.

Keywords: Prelo, Fransiska Hadiwidjana, secondhand marketplace, C2C e-commerce, pre-owned goods, circular economy, Indonesian startup, Bukalapak acquisition, Kleora, mobile marketplace, online rental, used fashion, preloved, recommerce, startup acqui-hire, Bandung tech, sustainable e-commerce, online escrow, product curation, secondhand electronics