Founded in 2016 Automovill is an one-stop automobile service providers in India. We connected with Mr. Mridu Mahendra Das, Co-founder & CEO of Automovill to get a gist of what Automovill is all about and what are the future plans of the company.
How did Automovill start?
The concept of Automovill follows our experience of uneven service and high cost of every visit to auto repair workshops or mechanics. Local mechanics are not always offering reliable service, and OEM workshops charge exorbitantly. My personal experience with one of the OEM further fuelled the idea and established the need for services like Automovill. We did good market research for a year and served few customers among friends and family. This allowed us to further strengthen the conviction about our idea. There was no looking back since then and we arrived at the notion of Automovill. The increase in personal and shared mobility has been instrumental in connecting the dots of adding both B2C and B2B customers in our kitty.
How many workshops does Automovill have in India and what are the plans of expansion?
Automovill works in the Hub and Spokes model. It has worked with almost 200+ workshops so far. Apart from that, Automovill has on boarded and is currently in talks with listing out additional 400+ workshops across India to increase its footprints. At present, Automovill has its active work distributed across 18 hubs and 100+ workshops in India.
Kindly explain the B2B model of the brand
There are two strategies we have played out for handling B2B.
One, we started our own/co-owned garage which helped Automovill focus only on the B2B car services, and for critical/high value jobs, Automovill hired specialized technicians. The skilled mechanics help us address the issues faster . This also allowed us to train additional manpower. Under the second tier we also manage semi-skilled technicians for the repeated and uniform work.
Another strategy we played out for B2B was to give the entire onus of delivery and pick up to dedicated vendors for jobs (denting and painting). We have two specific vendors in place who would only come into the picture for denting and painting jobs which are mostly for the accidental cases. In such a scenario, we directly share the case details with the vendor, and they handle the job end-to-end
How much has the brand invested in Automovill?
So Far Automovill has raised a total of 1.2 MN USD from across 3 rounds. The last round was from Mumbai Angles and Angel bay was worth USD 500K. The array of investors include the very reputed Mumbai Angels Network & NEDFI Ventures
What has been missing in the auto service market and how does the brand plans on bridging the same?
The primary challenge for car owners has been to find a one stop solution that is reliable and affordable. Customers find it difficult to find trustworthy mechanics. Also, one cannot be sure of the quality of parts used by local technicians. OEM workshops certainly maintain the quality of parts but then they charge unexpectedly high. Additionally, there are a host of challenges like – higher waiting time, supply chain issues, non-transparent experience and optimization of the overall process. Many players wanted to address the gap, but the overall model required higher investment to start with. Automovill due to its asset light Hub and Spoke model made a stronger statement by ensuring control over cost, quality and TAT. Automovill also ensured high availability across multiple cities including many Tier 2/3 cities which bridged the gap between car owners and service providers.
What all technologies is the brand implementing in-house?
Automovill has its inhouse team which has developed its customer facing applications (website, m-site and customer app), its own CRM system, executive and garage level apps, India’s first comprehensive claim registration app, and is currently developing India’s first learning and earning management platform for auto technicians spread across India.
Which city or region contributes to the maximum traction at the brand?
In the last quarter Automovill has witnessed a remarkable growth, specifically in the Eastern region (Kolkata, Patna, Ranchi, Bhubaneshwar, Guwahati). Additionally, the number of requests also increased multifold in Bangalore and Hyderabad.
What’s the current company’s strength? And what are the hiring plans?
Currently, Automovill has around 70+ people on its payroll that majorly includes FTEs and contract employees.
The brand is looking at hiring across different operational roles across India, and will also add strength to the technology team in Bangalore.