Mecho Autotech, a Nigerian startup for auto repair and maintenance has closed a $2.15 million seed round, the largest investment to date for a vehicle maintenance startup in sub-Saharan Africa.
The round saw participation from Future Africa, Hoaq Capital, Cathexis Ventures, V8 Capital, Silver Squid and Tekedia Capital. The fund raised will be used to expand its multi-channel service capacity, engineering team, and marketing budget for B2C acquisition.
Speaking on the investment, Future Africa founder, Iyin Aboyeji expressed delight at the investment and praised the team at Mecho Autotech.
“We are delighted to work with the Mecho Autotech team as they brilliantly execute on building out the vehicle repair value chain across Africa and create new and decent highly skilled auto repair jobs.,”
Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Future Africa founder and general partner.
Mecho Autotech: On a mission to save cars and lives
The typical mobile repair for an average car owner in Nigeria is the roadside mechanic. Oftentimes, these mechanics are poorly trained and do not have the capacity to properly fix car problems. This means that car owners repeatedly fix problems that ought to be done in one go. Also, maintenance culture is still poor as most people wait until something is wrong with their cars, instead of going for checkups.
Founded in 2021 by Olusegun Owoade and Ayoola Akinkunmi, Mecho Autotech offers repair and maintenance services to both businesses and consumers through in-house and third-party service capacity.
“We aspire to build a maintenance culture in Nigeria and beyond to keep roads and people safe,” said Olusegun Owoade, Mecho Autotech CEO/co-founder.
Mecho offers mobile service to meet a customer at their own location if preferred. Customers can also go to a Mecho Autotech workshop or partner garages for service. For business customers, Mecho Autotech can manage fleet-wide needs with flexibility to request repairs on demand.
In just about a year of operations, Mecho claims to have serviced over 2,000 vehicles for its B2B customers, some of which include Uber partner Moove, Tolaram Group, and UAC Group. The startup aims to grow in B2C via a subscription service model and individual service requests with a target of 25,000 customers this year.
“When you consider the state of Nigeria’s used cars and our roads, car maintenance isn’t optional. We want to automate high-quality vehicle repair and maintenance for Nigerians by making it easy, convenient, and affordable”, CEO Olusegun Owoade says.
The company operates a digital platform that connects B2B and B2C customers with both in-house and third-party mechanics. Mecho’s in-house capacity consists of workshops, known as Mecho Shops, and Mecho Mobile operations. The third-party mechanics, currently over 7,000 are onboarded after they have passed through rigorous assessment. Mecho has built three Mecho Shops across Lagos alongside mobile operations.
Expansion
Mecho Autotech will use the capital to expand its multi-channel service capacity, engineering team, and marketing budget for B2C acquisition.
In addition to the growing B2B revenue base, Mecho has expanded into service for B2C customers with the launch of its B2C app in January.
Via the mobile app, consumers enter their vehicle’s unique identification number (VIN) or basic vehicle information. Based on the vehicle’s specifications, the Mecho Autotech algorithm calculates a routine vehicle maintenance program and subscription fee which can be paid monthly, quarterly, or annually.
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