Bengaluru-based gadgets repair firm iService has raised $439K (INR 3 Cr) in a Seed round of funding led by Blume Ventures.
Angel investors such as Freshdesk co-founder Girish Mathrubootham, TaxiForSure co-founder Aprameya Radhakrishna, Tapzo CEO Ankur Singla, former Flipkart executive Mekin Maheshwari and Belong co-founder Vijay Sharma also participated in this round.
As Girish Mathrubootham said, “Ankit and iService have been building a solid business in this large, unsexy and highly fragmented repairs and warranty industry. They are front runners in building the most credible brand and becoming category leaders who will go on to enable the entire industry.”
Aprameya further added, “In a world obsessed with gadgets, downtime due to repair is something no one wants to deal with. iService has managed to provide a reliable fix for gadgets within hours together with ensuring that the customer doesn’t feel cheated.”
Journey To Date
iService was founded by Ankit Chowdhary in 2013. The idea erupted when his iPhone was broken and he turned to fix it himself. “I borrowed about INR 20,000 from my mom and a friend to kickstart this effort, pushed through college while doing this on the side and, hence, understanding some basics of my first CRM, accounting, marketing and operations. It was tough, realising how broken after sales service is in India. How consumer’s needs are not prioritised or even understood. How complex and difficult this industry and its supply chain is,” he said.
He was later joined in this endeavour by Pratheek Vinod Kumar, who was a good friend from college. The duo started off with an aim to establish a one-stop repairs and services platform with a team of expert technicians who can tend to almost any device across brands such as Apple, OnePlus, Xiaomi and more. Whether it is cracked iPhones, water-damaged Androids or even reviving dead Mac laptops, iService has solutions for all.
The startup was bootstrapped for a good two years, and it was only around 2015 that the founders realised the need of raising capital to move deep into the sector. That’s when the team connected with Blume Ventures.
As stated by Karthik Reddy, Managing Partner, Blume Ventures, “Ankit has been one with the problem statement for many years. He has a great understanding of the customer, the changing trends, the supply chain and the retail experience required to build a branded differentiated service in the gadget repair space. We are happy to back that vision.”
Current Status And Future Plans
Currently working with a 35-member team iService has, to date, reportedly served over 30, 000 clients. The team is further focussed on building a consumer-centric brand for after sales as well as other gadget-related services.
The raised funds will be used for enhancing product/tech, team building, and expanding its network to more cities, with a target of reaching six cities and 4x revenue growth by year-end. The startup is currently active in Bengaluru and Delhi.
“Given the $2 Bn opportunity ahead of us, we will strengthen the team and the product to be the first choice for people with an issue of repairs with their gadgets. We will also build a network of existing SMBs and newly skilled individuals in this industry get access to more work and tools to run their business” Ankit added.
Recently, in September 2016, two similar startups – Gadgetwood ($6 Mn) and Repaireasy raised funding.
