South African startup ServiceMyCar, which has developed an online marketplace for vehicle maintenance and repairs, has launched operations with ZAR5 million (US$311,000) in seed funding, and is planning a Series A round in January 2021.
Founded by father and son duo Athol and Aidan Quin in January 2019, and launched to the public in August 2020, ServiceMyCar provides customers with numerous quotations for vehicle repairs or service from various workshops located in the customer’s vicinity, and allows them to book the vehicle in on the selected date at the selected workshop.
The platform allows customers to make informed decisions on which workshop they would prefer to have their vehicle serviced at, providing structure to a previously unstructured marketplace.
“Through many years of motor industry experience we have identified that this is a huge problem for both workshops and customers. Customers face the challenge of finding a trustworthy, transparent and cost-effective workshop whilst workshops – both franchise and non-franchise – face the challenge of increasing volume, securing bookings and having reliable customer support,” Aidan Quin said.
The ServiceMyCar Workshop Partner Network consists of 70 independent and OEM workshops in the Western Cape, with the startup having plans to expand to Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal before the end of this year. This is being achieved with the help of seed funding worth ZAR5 million (US$311,000) secured by ServiceMyCar earlier this year, and Aidan said it plans to raise a Series A round in January in order to expand nationwide.
“We also plan on expanding into the rest of Africa, particularly Nigeria, Botswana and Namibia. Our focus is then to target other developing economies outside of Africa,” he said.
