B2B Automobile Service Startup LetsService Secures Funding From Aequs Group

Bengaluru-based B2B automobile service startup LetsService has secured an undisclosed amount of funding in a Pre Series A round. The round was led by Aequs Group and has marked the group’s first steps to expand into the digital space.

The investment will be used towards strengthening its team, expand into multiple cities and enhancing technology stack. “In the coming 6-8 months, we would focus on driving improved optimization and efficiency of service centers, with the support of OEMs, by extensively plugging our solutions at more dealerships across the country.” Says Sachin Vasanth Shenoy, Co-founder, and CEO of Let’s Service.

LetsService was launched in October 2015 by Sachin Vasanth Shenoy, Girish Gangadhar, and Sachin Shrikanth Radder. Sachin has earlier founded Flit.in, an online marketplace for offline retailers and had previously worked with companies like IBM and MetricStream., while Girish has earlier worked with IBM and Toyota.

The startup aims to become a trusted customer service digitisation partner for all two and four wheeler OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) globally. The startup had raised its seed funding round in May this year. The round was led by Dr. Ajay Prabhu, COO, QuEST Global, and Deepak Vinchhi, Co-founder and COO of Julia Computing Inc.

Let’s Service plays in the B2B space where it partners with the Authorized Service Centers with support from the OEMs (Manufacturers) to enable them to offer the pickup and drop services to their customers. Let’s Service has also built multiple tech solutions which is helping the dealerships and service centers in improving their customer reach-out and service processes. For instance, one of the solutions it offers is LSTransit, an automobile service logistics platform which offers logistics services and support to the consumers for the associated dealers.

The startup further aims to bring the focus back on the customer, envisioning a seamless vehicle ownership experience, through digitally powered solutions to reduce wait times and increase efficiency across service networks of the automobile manufacturer.

As per a recently released report by Bain & Company and Facebook, 40% of automobile sales in India will be digitally influenced by 2020 and up to 40% of consumers are expected to book repair and maintenance services online which will see a growth of 26% over the next three years from the current 14%. Further, J.D. Power 2017 India Two-Wheeler Customer Service Index (2WCSI) Study also stated that “Customer satisfaction can be improved by offering facilities that aid in improving customer convenience when scheduling and executing a service visit. The 14% of customers who were offered vehicle pick/drop at or from their home/office (14%) are more highly satisfied than those who were not.”

Thus, LetsService is building the necessary infrastructure on the ground, across major Indian cities, to facilitate this big transition for automobile manufacturers and their dealership networks.  “LetsService is driven towards transforming the automobile sales and service landscape in India. They have positively impacted customer satisfaction scores, through digitising the repair and maintenance service process across 350+ service centres, within limited resources and time. We are partnering with them for achieving their long-term vision.” says Aravind Melligeri, Chairman, and CEO, Aequs Group.  Aequs Group with over 2500 employees has investments in manufacturing and Infrastructure businesses in aerospace, oil & gas, automotive, and consumer products.

LetsService currently operates in five Indian cities Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, and Chennai. The B2B automobile service startup is looking to disrupt the segment on basis of a tech-based solution. The other startups operating in the automobile service segment are Steero, MotorExpert, MeriCAR, Cartisan, Bumper, Droom, Carzippi and more. How well LetsService will be able to play its cards amidst this stiff competition remains to be seen.