Vendfun picks PT Murni to expand hotel kiosks in Indonesia

Vendfun has appointed PT Murni as its exclusive master distributor for Indonesia, marking the Malaysian hospitality automation company's biggest market expansion to date.

Under the agreement, Jakarta-based PT Murni will distribute Vendfun's products in Indonesia, covering marketing, sales, installation and technical support. It will also manage the company's local distribution network and lead a reseller programme to broaden market reach.

The partnership is focused on Indonesia's hospitality sector, with Vendfun targeting budget hotels, boutique hotels, hostels and Airbnb-style accommodation with its self-check-in kiosks. Its Smart Mini Kiosk range is designed to automate guest check-in and check-out tasks that are typically handled at reception desks.

The distributorship agreement was signed in Jakarta by Daryl Lau, Vendfun's chief strategy officer, and Anton Ng, a director of PT Murni. Vendfun chief executive Benny Wee attended the signing.

Indonesia Focus

Indonesia offers a large addressable market because of the size of its budget hotel segment. Vendfun already has two hotel customers in the country, and those accounts will be transferred to PT Murni for support and maintenance.

The deal gives Vendfun a local partner with an established service footprint. PT Murni has seven offices, more than 100 service centres across Indonesia, more than 700 staff, and more than three decades of experience in information and communications technology systems.

For Vendfun, the partnership extends a business that has so far built most of its installed base in Malaysia. The company has deployed more than 150 kiosks across 12 Malaysian states, as well as in Singapore, Australia and the United States.

The Indonesian expansion comes as hotels across the region face pressure to manage staffing costs and address security concerns around guest verification and payments. Self-service kiosks are one response, particularly for lower-cost properties and smaller operators seeking to reduce reliance on front-desk staff.

Vendfun's systems are designed to let guests verify their identity, register and pay through a kiosk instead of a staffed counter. Its software integrates with property management systems including Yanolja, Cloudbeds and Wincloud.

Market Pressures

Lau linked the push into Indonesia to operating pressures in the hotel industry and the risks associated with manual processes.

"In Indonesia, our kiosk solutions are driven by two critical hotelier pain points, which are spiraling manpower costs and rising front-desk fraud. Additionally, as guest impersonation and credit card scams surge, traditional manual check-ins remain highly vulnerable. With rising costs, we foresee that demand for automated solutions will become even stronger in Indonesia. We are thrilled to partner with PT Murni to help address these challenges," said Lau.

PT Murni expects demand for automated systems among Indonesian hospitality operators to continue growing.

"We are excited to bring Vendfun's self-check-in kiosk solutions to the Indonesian market. The demand for automated hospitality solutions is real and growing, and Vendfun's technology directly addresses the challenges that hotels face today. We look forward to working closely with Vendfun to make self-service check-in the new standard for budget and boutique hotels across Indonesia," said Ng.

The agreement reflects a broader pattern of regional technology providers choosing local distribution partners rather than building direct operations from scratch in each Southeast Asian market. For smaller technology firms, that model can lower the cost of entering a new country while providing access to established customer relationships, installation teams and after-sales support.

Indonesia presents both opportunity and complexity. Its hospitality sector is spread across a vast archipelago, making local service coverage important for operators that rely on on-site installation and maintenance. That is especially relevant for physical systems such as kiosks, which require deployment, integration and technical support after the initial sale.

Vendfun was founded to supply automation systems to the hospitality industry and also serves food and beverage operators with self-service kiosk products. In hotels, it is positioning its smaller-format kiosks as a way to replace or reduce desk-based processes in properties with lean staffing and fluctuating guest volumes.

The Indonesian deal gives Vendfun a larger platform in one of Southeast Asia's biggest travel and accommodation markets. It also gives PT Murni responsibility for developing the reseller network that will help determine how widely the products are offered beyond initial direct customer wins.

"Indonesia represents a very exciting opportunity for us as it has the largest base of budget hotels in the region," Lau added. "With PT Murni's strong presence of seven offices and over 100 service centers across the country and technical capabilities in the Indonesian market, we believe this partnership will accelerate the adoption of self-service technology in the hospitality industry."