Blume, Goldbell Invests Another $1.6 Mn In Car Service Startup Pitstop

Bengaluru-based car repair and servicing startup Pitstop has raised $1.6 Mn in a Pre-Series A funding round from its existing investors Blume Ventures and Singapore-based Goldbell Group.

The startup plans to use the funding to scale up its ‘Doorstep service’ across Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR along with building high-end technology to support the infrastructure, reports ET.

Commenting on the fundraise, Mihir Mohan, Founder and CEO of Pitstop said, “We have experimented with our operating model (for our flagship model ‘Doorstep Service’) and have serviced more than 2,300 vehicles at doorstep over past 6 months.”

He added that on the same line they want to strengthen their business strategy and build a platform that enables mobility and add great convenience to users thereby creating a hyper-local service model through a fleet of mobile vans plying across the geographies.

Founded in 2015 by Mihir Mohan and Nirant Ramakuru, Pitstop aims to provide mobile enabled car repair services to owners and service providers. It currently offers services in Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad and Chennai.

On the investment, Sajid Fazalbhoy of Blume Ventures said, “We found a very high demand for doorstep service from Pitstop’s customers which has prompted us to allocate a large amount of resources to this strategy.”

He also revealed that the startup will further be integrated into managing customers’ cars now from basic service and even accident repair to Pitstop’s partner workshop network – all this handled by a Pitstop service advisor who will be in touch with the customer through the service process.

Pitstop: Bringing Car Repair To Your Doorstep

Pitstop offers a common platform for car owners and service providers to connect and transact on car related services. The startup is building modernised multi-brand car service garages by providing technology platform, processes, spare parts and right diagnostic tools and equipment.

It also works with ride-sharing companies and utilises its proprietary SaaS-based Fleet Information System that provides a one-stop real-time view of service repairs.

Pitstop had earlier claimed to provide services for about 4,000 orders each month clocking revenues of about $307.6K (INR 2 Cr) on a monthly basis.

In July 2016 and September 2017, the startup raised an undisclosed amount in Seed funding from angels Alex Chua and Rahul Garg and $1 Mn in a Series A funding round from Blume Ventures and Goldbell Group respectively.

In March 2018, Pitstop also acquired Noida-based startup MotorWhiz, which offers mobile solutions for car services and repair jobs, in a part cash-part stock deal.

In the space, Pitstop competes with the likes of Cartisan, Bumper, Droom, and others.

According to an IBEF report, the Indian auto industry, one of the largest in the world, accounts for 7.1% of the country’s GDP.

Also, India is a prominent auto exporter and has strong export growth expectations for the near future. Further, several initiatives by the Government of India including ‘Make in India’ and the major automobile players in the Indian market are expected to make India a leader in the two Wheeler and Four Wheeler market in the world by 2020.

As the segment continues to grow, the scalability of the product has also been continuously increasing. With the latest push as Pre-Series A funding from Blume Venture and Goldbell Group, the car repair market is ripe for Pitstop to scale up its product.

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