Car wash startup CleanseCar raises more money

CleanseCar, a mobile-based platform which offers daily car wash services, has raised Rs 3.5 crore (around $500,000) in angel funding facilitated by incubation platform Venture Catalysts.

According to a statement, the investors from the Venture Catalysts network who participated in the round include early-stage investment firm Omphalos Venture India LLP and individuals including Rishabh Mahimtura, Anil Patel, Vishal Brambhatt.

CleanseCar, which was founded in March this year, said it aims to organise and streamline the daily car wash industry, alleviating the woes of the many car owners in apartments and gated communities.  

It also offers other automotive care solutions such as interior vacuum cleaning, dashboard and console cleaning and shine, interior detailing and rim dressing.

The startup is currently operational in Bengaluru and Chennai. It also aims to roll out its services in other cities in south India by next year.

CleanseCar was founded by Kalyandhar Vinukoda and Pratibha Shalini. Vinukoda has 14 years of experience in the software industry including stints at TCS, Accenture and Thomson Reuters. Shalini has 12 years of accounting software experience and previously worked at Oracle.  

CleanseCar had in September raised $150,000 (Rs 1.08 crore) in seed funding from angel investor Dhianu Das.

“CleanseCar is disrupting this high-potential segment by introducing standardisation and the use of technology to it,” said Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, co-founder and president of Venture Catalysts.

Mumbai-based Venture Catalysts was founded by Sharma, Anil Jain, Anuj Golecha and Gaurav Jain in December 2015. It typically invests between $250,000 and $1 million in early-stage startups. 

The platform’s most recent investments include medical-technology startup iNICU, crowdfunding platform ImpactGuru, Uttar Pradesh-based online eyewear marketplace ClearDekho, Kolkata-based Ideal Insurance Brokers, and lingerie brand InnerSense.

Deals in the space

The broader automobile-servicing space has witnessed considerable fundraising activity in recent months.

In April, car-servicing startup Carcrew Technology Pvt. Ltd, backed by TVS Group, raised $2 million (Rs 13 crore) in a fresh pre-Series A round led by an undisclosed private equity firm.

In March, Blume Ventures-backed Pitstop acquired MotorWhiz, a mobile platform for car service and repair jobs, in a cash-and-stock deal.