Bengaluru-based online tyre retailer Tyremarket.com has raised around $500,000 (Rs 3.2 crore) from UK-based online tyre retailer Blackcircles.com’s founder Michael Welch.
Tyremarket is headed by former Siemens Healthcare executive Sanjeev Agrawal who is co-founder and CEO.
Tyremarket, which was started in 2015, operates a lean business model similar to Blackcircles. It is an online marketplace for supplying tyres to vehicle segments like bicycles, two-wheelers, passenger cars, commercial vehicles, tractors, off-roaders, industrial and heavy vehicles. It also provides tyre replacement and other tyre related services and products.
“Our strategy of providing more tyre choices, installation partners and great value is starting to pay real dividends. We have created a platform from which we can invest to become the leading online platform for tyre business in India,†said Agrawal.
“Tyremarket has an opportunity to be the market leader for tyres in India. Its team, vision and ambition are second to none,†said Welch who is also strategic adviser to Tyremarket. Welch sold Blackcircles to French tyre manufacturer Michelin in 2015.
Full Circle Partners, a corporate advisory firm with offices in Edinburgh and Singapore, is advising Tyremarket for the funding round.
"Welch is in as a cornerstone investor along with the founding team. To date, close to $500,000 has gone in and the next round of funding will be used to grow people and systems within the business," said Nick Freer, spokesperson for Full Circle Partners.
Enterprise IoT solutions startup Tyre Express Pvt. Ltd. raised an undisclosed amount in its seed round from IIT Delhi and Wharton alumni in January 2017.