Carpathy, based out of Gurgaon, was launched in January 2016 with a vision to bring standardization and transparency in the automobile service industry. The team consists of technology and automobile enthusiasts - Himanshu Bansal (Co-Founder & CEO), Akshat Lavania (Co-Founder & CBO) and Jimmy Yadav (Co-Founder & COO).
How does it work?• Customers can book its services like car wash, car spa, general service, repair, maintenance and many more, online or by phone.
• Carpathy’s team picks the car and takes it to the nearest Carpathy service centre.
• Carpathy service advisor ensures that the customer’s car gets the right treatment according to Carpathy service standards.
• Once the service in completed, the car is dropped back to the customer’s address.
GenesisTalking about their initial days, Jimmy Yadav, Co-Founder & COO, Carpathy said, “As car owners we always faced this dilemma where to get our car serviced as authorized service centres are unnecessarily expensive and multi brand workshops don’t have a standard way of operating. Also the quotations vary from one service station to another. We realized that there is a huge demand to standardize the multi brand car service industry and provide a reliable solution to car owners with complete quality assurance.”
DifferentiationThe company’s focus on quality is the key differentiator for it. The startup closely verify each service provider on a variety of metrics. To further ensure quality on the vendor’s end, the company make sure that they use only OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) parts.
Another differentiating factor is that instead of approximate quotations, it provide exact upfront pricing to our customers.
Funding & MonetizationCarpathy is currently bootstrapped, however the company is also receiving interest from a number of investors in the market. The startup works on a commission based model with the service partners.
Challenges facedCar service industry is highly unorganized and it is hard to find trained professionals and workshops who meet its service standards. There is a low penetration of technology amongst the vendors which makes effective communication between the vendor and customer difficult. Moreover, there is a lot of disparity in terms of the parts and materials used by different vendors/workshops in the industry.
Traction detailsThe company is doing more than 150 orders per month growing at a rate of 40%. It has a network of 20 service stations with more than 100 mechanics.
Market sizeIt’s a $40 billion industry, and a bigger share of the market is currently offline, consisting of unauthorized service centres. There is a huge demand for standardized services and transparent pricing in the market.
