Exclusive: Car servicing startup Carcrew secures pre-Series A funding

Car-servicing startup Carcrew Technology Pvt. Ltd, backed by TVS Group, has raised $2 million (Rs 13 crore) in a fresh pre-Series A round led by a private equity firm, a top executive told TechCircle.in.

The name of the investor was not disclosed by the Mumbai-based company.

Existing investors also participated in the round, said Vikul Goyal, co-founder and chief executive of Carcrew.

Goyal said, “We will use this capital to invest in technology and expand our operations to multiple geographies.” He added that the company would invest in supply chain and logistics, as well.

The funding for Carcrew comes after the startup bought Delhi-based ClickGarage in a stock-and-cash deal in February.

ClickGarage, run by Sui Generis Innovations Pvt. Ltd, is a network of workshops that provide car services. Through that acquisition, Carcrew entered the Delhi market.

On the capital front, Carcrew had raised angel funds worth of $500,000 (Rs 3.4 crore then) in November 2016 in a round led by TVS Automobile Solutions of TVS Group.

Carcrew was founded by Goyal and Vikram Sharma. Before Carcrew, Goyal worked as strategy head at ethnic products marketplace Craftsvilla and also invested in self-drive car-rental startup JustRide. Sharma was previously managing director at furniture firm BP Ergo Ltd, and also worked with Tata Motors and McKinsey & Co.

Carcrew partners taxi and leasing firms across Mumbai, Pune and Delhi in order to provide vehicle maintenance and fleet management services. The average ticket size of the service is between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000 and the startup counts ride-hailing firms Ola and Uber and car-rental startup Zoomcar as its clients.

Carcrew’s funding follows that of two-wheeler and four-wheeler servicing startups in recent months.

In December last year, Noida-based automobile services startup GarageOnRoad raised an undisclosed amount in a seed round.

In October last year, two-wheeler servicing startup Let’s Service secured pre-Series A funds from aerospace parts maker Aequs Group.

The month before, after-sales car-service provider Pitstop raised $1 million in a pre-Series A round from Blume Ventures, Singapore-based Goldbell Group and some angel investors.