SUMMARY
The funds may be used for geographical expansion and hiring
The company may also spend on brand building
Kunal Bahl and Ritesh Agarwal may also invest in GoMechanic
Gurugram-based automobile repair and service solution startup GoMechanic has reportedly raised $4 Mn – $4.9 Mn (INR 30-35 Cr) in a Series A round led by Sequoia Capital. It may use fresh funds to expand to new cities and bulk up hiring at leadership positions along with expenses on brand-building.
A media report citing people aware of the development said that the company is still in talks to raise funds from Snapdeal cofounder Kunal Bahl and OYO’s Ritesh Agarwal.
An email query sent to GoMechanic’s Kushal Karwa and Sequoia Capital didn’t elicit any response till the time of publication.
Founded in April 2016 by Amit Bhasin, Kushal Karwa, Nitin Rana and Rishabh Karwa, GoMechanic aims to leverage technology to assist Indian car owners to find automobile repair and maintenance service providers in their vicinity, and provides original spare parts for all the services booked at its partner service centres.
The company had last raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Orios Venture Partners and angel investor Dhianu Das in August 2017 and $250K (INR 1.78 Cr) from Venture Catalysts in December 2016.
The company has expanded its services across Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru. It soon plans to launch operations in Indore, Kanpur and Jaipur.
The company claims to offer services at a 40% discount, by reducing labour costs, bulk procurement of parts and minimizing real estate expenses. The startup also claims to ensure the availability of spare parts in a timely fashion through personalised procurement.
Some of the challenges of GoMechanic include Bengaluru-based automotive services marketplace startup Cartisan, ecommerce marketplace for automobile parts and services, SparesHub, Bumper, BookMyTime, Mind Your Fleet etc.
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. The report has pegged the Indian automobile market at $125 Bn in 2018. Out of which, $100 Bn is the estimated share of automobile sales and remaining $25 Bn includes services.
The auto industry is expected to grow at a rate of about 10% to a whopping $225 Bn by 2020, according to IBEF.
[The development was reported by Livemint.]
