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Bengaluru-based, car-repair and servicing start-up Pitstop, which connects car owners with multi-brand garages on its platform, is on the road to turning profitable in the January-March quarter of 2018.
Founded in August 2015 by Mihir Mohan and Nirant Ramakuru, Pitstop has delivered 4,500 car services at an average cost of ₹5,281 per service and achieved gross sales of over ₹2 crore.
Mihir Mohan, CEO, a serial entrepreneur and IIT-Kanpur alumnus, told BusinessLine that the start-up is all set to scale ₹28 crore in gross sales in the next 16-18 months, making it a profitable venture in under three years. Pitstop receives 10-18 per cent in commissions per service from its partner garages.
Having consolidated its presence in its home market of Bengaluru with a network of 40 Pitstop-branded and certified garages on its platform, the company launched its services in Delhi-NCR on Thursday, through its partnership with 25 Pitstop-certified garages.
The firm has also launched a garage management software at its first Garage Network Meet in Bengaluru to help standardise car repair and service for over 60 garages in Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR.
Standardising service“Almost everyone I know has had a problem with car servicing and repairs with various issues such as booking a service, pick-up and drop-off, and opaque cost structures with zero transparency, resulting in a lot of inconvenience and high payouts. Typically, service costs for hatchbacks and mid-range sedans are₹3,500 and ₹5,000, respectively. But car owners end up paying much more as advisors in the service centres sell other services,” said Mohan.
Services at Pitstop are priced 35-42 per cent lower than what is charged at authorised service centres. Mohan said this is because labour costs are inflated at authorised service centres to make up for the additional costs they incur in paying out annual licence fees to car manufacturers. Services offered by Pitstop include washing and detailing, painting, emergency car care, doorstep inspection and buying insurance.
Mohan saidPitstop will be well-poised to tap into the huge unorganised auto service sector and standardise offerings across all car brands.
The start-up has raised $300,000 in seed funding from Alex Chua, COO of Singapore-based Goldbell Group; Rahul Garg, founder, Moglix; Ashutosh Lawania, co-founder, Myntra; Anuj Srivastava and Ramakant Sharma, founders, Livspace; Krishna Kumar, CEO, Simplilearn and other angel investors.
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