Insurtech startup Acko Technology & Services Pvt. Ltd, backed by Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, has invested $1.2 million (Rs 8.8 crore) in car servicing platform Pitstop.
The strategic investment will immediately boost Acko’s auto claim servicing capability and its promise of three-day doorstep pickup, repair and delivery services, said the insurtech startup in a statement.
In the long run, the investment will help Acko’s engagement with customers throughout their car ownership lifecycle, it added.
As part of the transaction, Blume Ventures-backed Pitstop’s tech-enabled garages will be integrated with Acko’s claim settlement platform.
The partnership between the two companies will initially be operational in five cities -- Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Pune. It will be rolled out to 20 more cities later, it added.
Acko, the holding company of Acko General Insurance Ltd, was founded in 2016 by Varun Dua. Its digital platform provides personalised insurance products based on user behaviour, including general and auto insurance.
Bansal had invested a total of $45 million in Acko till December last year, The Economic Times had reported.
Pitstop, operated by Chatpay Commerce Pvt Ltd, was launched in 2015 by Mihir Mohan. It has a network of more than 300 garages, over 80 vans in nine cities – Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Noida, Gurugram, Ghaziabad and Faridabad
Earlier this year, the startup raised $2.5 million in its Series A round of funding led by Group Landmark, an Ahmedabad-based automobile dealership that had raised funding from TPG Growth in 2014.
In April 2018, Pitstop raised $1.6 million in a pre-Series A round of funding from existing investors led by Singapore-based Goldbell Group and Blume Ventures.
Other startups in the car maintenance and servicing space include GoMechanic, which in December last year raised $14.7 million (around Rs 105 crore) in a Series B funding round.
That capital raising exercise was led by existing investors Chiratae Ventures and Sequoia Capital. Another existing backer – Orios Venture Partners – also participated.
