Tech-enabled multi-brand car service provider, Pitstop on Tuesday announced the appointment of Nihal Shetty as its new Chief Executive Officer – Services, in a bid to make FY 21/22 a period of hyper growth.

Nihal was previously the Country General Manager at WeWork India and was responsible for the P&L, customer experience, and monetization in the region. An alumnus of the Indian School of Business and University of Michigan, he has more than a decade of experience in automotive, real estate and e-commerce.

Commenting on his appointment, Nihal Shetty, said, “There is a huge opportunity to improve customer experience in the aftermarket space through the adoption of technology across the chain on the supply side and digital adoption on the demand side. The industry, expected to grow from Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 100,000 crore by FY30, is ripe for this adoption and changes in consumer preferences,” Shetty said.

He went to add that Pitstop is at the center of this change having built a robust tech-stack both on the supply and demand side that is focused on solving for customer experience.

The company achieved an average monthly growth of 40% in 2020 and interestingly, the biggest surge in its customer base came from women car owners, growing from a negligible level in early 2020 to close to 23% today.

“The auto aftermarket industry is at an inflection point. There are new technologies fuelling new business models. Pitstop continues to innovate and scale in our current and newer markets. If the last few quarters are any indication, where we grew by almost 40% month on month, 2021 will be a watershed year for us as we grow vertically as well as horizontally. I am delighted to have Nihal onboard during this exciting period,” said Mihir Mohan, Founder, Pitstop.

A significant portion of the company’s customer base comes from the gated communities backed by IT Corridors. As part of its expansion plans, it aims to make a more homogeneous inroads across the cities where it has a significant presence.
Pitstop has built a platform with over 250 garages, where it helps garages up skill their technicians, procure genuine spare parts and provide consumers with a service warranty. It also has a home service offering.

Currently, Pitstop service is available in 12 locations including Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Pune, Kolkata, Agra, and Darbhanga.

The start-up has raised $9.7 million till date along with $3.5 million raised in a Pre-series-B recently. The funding was led by Ventureast with participation from ACKO Technologies, LetsVenture, AngelList India, Blume Ventures, among others.