Bengaluru-based Automovill aims to enhance car servicing experience

Car owners often find themselves switching from one workshop to another to service their vehicles until they find the right match. Mridu Das, too, encountered a similar problem in 2014 after going through the hassle of making multiple visits to the workshops. The experience prompted Das to launch Automovill, a platform that was initially started as a listing platform for workshops based on geography and competency.

Automovill, however, has now expanded to offer a wide range of services, including pickup and drop, insurance claims, accessories, batteries/tires, and everything which consists of the after-sales needs of a vehicle. Based in Bengaluru, Automovill has handled more than 200,000 cars in the last six years, whereas its coverage has expanded to more than 20 cities. The company has also onboarded more than 250 workshops across India.

“Most car owners have three main problems in car servicing – unavailability of service centers for certain brands, long queues even if there are service centers and non-transparent pricing of service/repairs,” Das told Entrackr while explaining the problem Automovill is trying to solve.

He also highlighted that people have also faced issues relating to insurance and access to information about the service.

Automovill is looking to tap into the largely fragmented service market, which is poised to be worth $25 billion by 2030. Though, there are quite a few companies that have already entered the market. GoMechanic, now acquired by Lifelong Group-led Servizzy, was one of the big names in the space.

Das, however, believes Automovill is different from GoMechanic and other auto service tech startups.

“Automovill from the outset has itself kept the number of workshops less and focussed more on the quality of the workshop. We also ensured quality product and business process instead of higher volume and numbers,” he added.

The startup, however, is also hoping for increased demand after the market void left by GoMechanic. To address the possible surge in demand, the company is planning to increase the depth of existing cities where it operates. Automovill is also setting up company-owned, company-operated (COCO) workshops across its key markets. This will also help the company ensure more control over the quality and cost, the founder added.

To date, the company has raised $1.2 million in funding from NEDFI Venture Capital Limited (NVCL), Mumbai Angels, and Angel Bay. Das said that the company is looking to raise more capital as it’s still a growth stage company. He added that the future funds will be deployed towards setting up COCOs in some cities, making the platform more robust to handle the entire business activities around after sales ecosystem and branding and strengthening its marketing activities.