Bengaluru-based Wisedrive, a startup offering extended warranty for cars, has raised $1 million in a Seed funding round led by LC Nueva Investment Partners, through its early-stage venture capital fund, LC Nueva Alternative Investment Fund (AIF).
Other investors, including Japanese venture capital fund Spiral Ventures and Bhavadeep Reddy (Co-founder of HousingMan.com) also participated in the round.
Wisedrive offers warranty service to help its customers maintain their cars and increase resale value. The startup said its extended warranty comes with free maintenance of used car at manufacturer authorised service centre and Pan India roadside assistance to customers at no additional cost, thereby reducing the number of problems that are caused by the vehicle’s engine and transmission.
In this manner, it makes it possible for customers to trust cars at offline car dealers and helps used car dealers to close transaction 60% faster than before. Currently, it operates in Bengaluru and plans to expand to other metro cities in the upcoming months.
Founded in 2021 by Kalyandhar Vinukonda, Wisedrive has partnered with authorised service centres of brands like Honda, Hyundai, Maruti, Volkswagen, Skoda, Mahindra Tata and Toyota.
The startup said in the coming months it will be partnering with OEMs (original equipment manufacturer), which will give them exposure across the entirety of India.
Extended warranty is a worldwide accepted financial product with more than 95% acceptance in USA, Europe and other parts of the world as it ensures trust and transparency in used car industry, Wisedrive’s extended warranty covers both the engine and the transmission (Manual and Automatic), and is currently exploring more components to add to its product roadmap. In addition to that, It also offer free Pan India RSA to all of their warranty holders, it claims.
“The trust factor is still shaky when it comes to the used car space. The last ten years in India have witnessed a revolution in the discovery of used cars, but the next ten years will see a revolution in the building of trust in used cars,” said Kalyandhar Vinukonda.
“Because there is a lack of transparency in the service history and the usage of the vehicle, the trust levels of the buyer of a used car are significantly lower. Despite this, India sells 6 million used cars every year, a number that is growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15% year over year,” said Kalyandhar.
“There is a lack of trust, and we want to make up for it by establishing a relationship of trust with our customers. Thus we have partnered with offline service stations to provide customers with a streamlined experience and process whenever they bring their vehicles in for repairs or maintenance.”
Source @Indianstartupnews
