Venture Catalysts Announces Full Exit from Its Portfolio Koovers with Handsome 2.1X Returns in Just 1.5 Yrs

Venture Catalysts, India’s first and largest early-stage investment firm, has announced full exit from its portfolio Koovers, a leading B2B Ecommerce platform for auto spare parts, with handsome 2.1x returns in just 1.5 years.

Venture Catalysts (Vcats) exited its investment in Koovers post the latter’s acquisition by Schaeffler India Ltd, an industrial and automotive parts maker and listed subsidiary of German automotive major Schaeffler Group, in August, 2023. Schaeffler acquired Koovers for Rs 142.4 crore.

Venture Catalysts had invested in Koovers in early 2022 in its pre-Series A round through its Angel Fund and few other Angels and Family Offices directly investing in the company. All the investors have got an exit with the acquisition. Inflection Point Ventures, Canbank Venture Fund, and JPIN some of the other marquee investors in Koovers.

“Koovers is one of the rarest startup that is not only solving a major problem in the automotive aftermarket segment but also been posting impressive revenues year after year. We invested in the company for a long term but the acquisition was a great exit opportunity with over 2.1x returns in just 1.5 years in a market that’s facing a longish funding winter and a liquidity crunch. These opportunities to the investors creates a huge positive impact in the entire ecosystem,” said Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Founder and Managing Director of Venture Catalysts ++.

Founded in 2015 by Vinayak YB, Sandeep Begur, and S Prem Kumar, Koovers is a B2B ecommerce platform that supplies auto spare parts to independent auto workshops (IWS) and the aftermarket ecosystem. It has clocked a revenue of Rs 77 crore in 2022-23 and supplies to over 7,000-plus workshops and has a portfolio of around 1.8 million parts from various manufacturers.

“We are quite excited to have had investors like Venture Catalysts on our captable. With their guidance under the leadership of Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, we we were able to achieve our growth metric goals thus creating immense value for all our investors,” said Sandeep Begur, Cofounder, Koovers.

About Venture Catalysts

Venture Catalysts is India’s first integrated incubator. It typically invests $250K – $2 Mn in early stage start-ups with a potential to create enduring value for over a long period of time. Founded in 2016 by Dr Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Anuj Golecha, Anil Jain and Gaurav Jain, Venture Catalysts has invested in over 300+ startups since inception. The cumulative valuation of the startups invested by Venture Catalysts is $10 Bn+. Venture Catalysts has its presence across 55 cities in 9 countries and is one of the most active early stage investor globally.

Schaeffler India Acquires Koovers, A B2B Automotive Spares E-Commerce Startup

Addition of B-to-B e-commerce platform to act as a key enabler for the aftermarket ecosystem, including distribution partners

Koovers is a brand of KRSV Innovative Auto Solutions Private Limited

Acquisition of 100 percent of the shares via a share purchase agreement

Schaeffler India Limited today announced that the Board of Directors has approved the acquisition of 100 percent of the shares of KRSV Innovative Auto Solutions Private Limited (in the following “Koovers”), a Bengaluru-based private limited company offering spare parts solutions to Indian aftermarket workshops via a B-to-B e-commerce platform. This acquisition presents an ideal synergy for Schaeffler’s future aftersales activities in India. It will be a key enabler for the aftermarket ecosystem, including distribution partners and help to play an important role in the fast growing and evolving aftermarket digital landscape.

 

Koovers founders

Schaeffler’s Automotive Aftermarket division supplies components and holistic repair solutions for the automobile spare parts business worldwide and sees itself as an enabler of garages. With an overarching understanding of systems and comprehensive services, Schaeffler supports garages in complex repairs and at the same time contributes to extending the operating life of vehicles.

Founded in 2015, Koovers has established a B-to-B e-commerce platform offering spare parts solutions to aftermarket workshops in India. With revenues of INR 777 million in the financial year 2022-23, the company has a compelling growth story and is one of the fast-growing players in the Indian B-to-B e-commerce market.

Koovers had raised a total of $2.5 million in funding over two rounds. Their latest funding was raised on June 2022 from a Seed Round. Koovers' largest round was in year 2021 when it raised $1.5 million led by Inflection Point Ventures. Other investors in that round include JPIN-VCats and Venture Catalysts.

Koovers supplies to over 7,000 plus workshops and has a portfolio of around 1.8 million parts from various manufacturers. The platform will continue to operate under Koovers brand name.

“We are happy to announce the acquisition of Koovers, a milestone moment for Schaeffler in India. This will be a strategic step to maximize value creation through our repair solutions for all customers. Schaeffler Automotive Aftermarket’s ambition has always been to simplify workshop operations with plug and play products and solutions, while building consumer connect. Koovers strongly supports this ambition with its innovative digital offering,” said Mr. Harsha Kadam, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at Schaeffler India.

Under the share purchase agreement, Schaeffler India Limited will acquire 100 percent shares of KRSV Innovative Auto Solutions Private Limited for a consideration of approximately INR 1,424 million. The transaction would be completed in third quarter of CY 2023, subject to customary closing conditions. This acquisition will be fully funded by own cash generation.

“This acquisition is in line with Schaeffler India’s strategic initiatives for growth and provides a compelling synergy potential. With its digital offering, the Koovers B-to-B e-commerce platform enables workshops to easily order spare parts solutions. We welcome the Koovers team to the Schaeffler Group,“ commented Mr. Debasish Satpathy, President Automotive Aftermarket Schaeffler India.

Mr. Sandeep Begur Sheshadri, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder at Koovers said: “Since our foundation eight years ago, we have scaled our business through innovative solutions and offerings. Koovers will expand its market coverage and depth, as well as extend product portfolio across the automotive aftermarket under the ownership of Schaeffler India. We are delighted to be an integral part of Schaeffler India and are committed to create value for all stakeholders.”

The Schaeffler Group has been driving forward groundbreaking inventions and developments in the field of motion technology for over 75 years. With innovative technologies, products, and services for electric mobility, CO₂-efficient drives, chassis solutions, Industry 4.0, digitalization, and renewable energies, the company is a reliable partner for making motion more efficient, intelligent, and sustainable – over the entire life cycle. The motion technology company manufactures high-precision components and systems for drive train and chassis applications as well as rolling and plain bearing solutions for a large number of industrial applications. The Schaeffler Group generated sales of EUR 15.8 billion in 2022. With around 84,000 employees, the Schaeffler Group is one of the world’s largest family-owned companies. With more than 1,250 patent applications in 2022, Schaeffler is Germany’s fourth most innovative company according to the DPMA (German Patent and Trademark Office).

About Schaeffler India Limited

Established for more than 60 years, Schaeffler India is a leading motion technology company with 4 manufacturing sites in Pune, Vadodara, Maneja, and Savli, 3 R&D centres, and 8 sales offices. In 2022, the company reported sales of INR 68,674 million, supported by a team of 3,190 employees. The company is well represented in India with its three divisions – Industrial, Automotive and Automotive Aftermarket, offering comprehensive range of products and services under the brands of FAG, INA, LuK and TruPower. Schaeffler caters a to a large and diverse customer base with efficient engine & transmission solutions, chassis and E-mobility solutions on the automotive division and reliable range of bearings and accessories with award winning Industry 4.0 and Lifetime Solutions for the industry division. Both the divisions are backed by a strong network of aftermarket footprint bringing products and solutions closer to customers. The strategic roadmap is driven by a well-defined ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) program, and Schaeffler India is committed to contribute to the global sustainability targets. Committed to quality, innovation, sustainability with a passionate team Schaeffler India strives to pioneer motion to advance the industrial and automotive technology in India. Explore more - www.schaeffler.co.in

India’s Largest B2B Automobiles Spares Startup Koovers Raises $1.5 Mn Led by Inflection Point Ventures

Koovers Founders

• Koovers is a B2B e-commerce platform that focuses on supplying genuine spare parts to independent auto workshops (IWS) and the aftermarket ecosystem
• IPV announces Koovers as its 36th deal for 2021; likely to invest Rs. 155 crore this year across 60 plus startups.
• IPV has so far invested Rs. 292Cr across 98 deals.

India’s largest B2B Automobiles spares startup Koovers raises $1.5 mn led by Inflection Point Ventures. Other investors in the round include JPIN-VCats and Venture Catalysts. The funds raised will be used to enter more geographies across India, expand product portfolio and to upgrade technology platform.

Koovers assures workshops of Right Spares @ Right Time @ Right Prices with ease of ordering, doorstep delivery, genuine and complete basket of spare parts of all Car Manufacturers. Koovers has more than 5000 Workshops in the network and has clocked 100% Y-o-Y growth despite the Covid lockdown with $4.5 million ARR.

Mitesh Shah, Co-Founder, Inflection Point Ventures says, “Car maintenance is a large market in India and it is mostly unorganised. Car owners normally find a workshop close to their locations for maintenance and repair work as sending it to dealers’ run service shop is both expensive and time consuming. Koovers is tapping the unorganised car maintenance market which will continue to grow as it is an ongoing demand for car owners. At IPV, we invest in businesses that can show sustainable business model with path to profitability. Koovers delivers on both the key parameters.”

Koovers founding team has a combined experience of 40+ years in the automotive space and they have shown strong leadership qualities to cement their presence in the aftermarket ecosystem. Koovers disrupts the existing value chain of automotive spare parts aftermarket by leveraging technology, procurement contracts with OEM/OES and focus on "point of consumption." Their immediate area of focus is in the passenger car segment. In the future, they target to expand their offerings to include parts for CVs, 2-Wheelers, etc.

Koovers DMS App is used for ordering the required parts and their tech platform has 1.8 Mn spares listed (till date) and the UI/UX is designed keeping in mind the skill sets/tech adoption levels of Mechanics.

Sandeep Begur, Co-founder & CEO, Koovers says, “Indian Auto aftermarket is one of the last unorganized frontiers to be conquered and this is the space that we are disrupting. With one of the highest fill rates in the Industry, we are the preferred go-to partners for workshops for all their spares requirements. With a strong leadership team comprising of Vinayak YB (CTO) who comes with strong Technology and eCommerce background, and S. Prem Kumar (COO), an ex-COO of a Telecom major, Koovers is poised to disrupt and conquer this last frontier. IPV is one of the professionally managed investor networks in India and we are privileged to have them as our Investor.”

About Koovers

Koovers was founded by industry veterans with over 25 years of experience each in Spares, Sales, Service and Technology. Koovers blends deep Automotive knowledge with spare parts supply chain management and technology, to be able to deliver "Right Spares at the Right Time for the Right Price".

About Inflection Point Ventures

Inflection Point Ventures is an angel investing platform with over 5100 CXOs, HNIs and Professionals to together invest in startups. The firm supports new-age entrepreneurs by providing them monetary & experiential capital and connecting them with a diverse group of investors. IPV, started in 2018 believes that ‘Everyone can Grow with Startups’ as it plans to invest INR 155 Cr in 2021 across 60 startups.