AutoLeap, a Toronto-based auto repair software company, has announced a $5 million seed round. Nine months later, AutoLeap has $18 million in Series B funding. This time, it is led by Bain Capital Ventures.
Bain is joined by Threshold Ventures, an existing investor, who led the seed round to provide $23 million total funding.
TechCrunch's Steve Lau, co-CEO of AutoLeap, said that AutoLeap will bring the auto shop into the 21st Century by digitizing their workflow. This will allow shop owners to reduce the number of double- and triple-entry shops they have to manage. It offers a sales and marketing component through customer relationship management, scheduling via mobile, email, or text, and customer reviews.
Lau stated that the company has grown beyond what was expected since the seed round and its launching last year. The company has seen a five-fold increase in sales and tenfold growth in its customer base. The company's revenue continues to rise month after month.
He said that we are more confident about the market opportunity than ever and how well we fit into it. AutoLeap was also mentioned by a customer who shared with us that his shop has doubled its revenues in just 10 months. It is making a difference in their lives.
Lau has a natural knack for growing a business. He spent four years with Rameez Ansari, co-CEO of FieldEdge (a SaaS company that assists contractors in running their small businesses), as co-CEOs. Lau stated that they grew the company to 200 employees over three years which enabled them to launch AutoLeap.
The company's team is distributed in Canada, the U.S., and Pakistan. The majority of its customers are located in the U.S. 85%, with the remainder in Canada.
Lau estimates that the automotive industry is worth $700 billion. It employs 1 million people and has 300,000 shops.
He said that we are just in the second inning as this market moves from pen to paper. The new capital will be used to capitalize on that market opportunity, and to hire a top-notch team to provide better customer service and product design.
He anticipates that AutoLeaps will triple its workforce within the next twelve months, and will be focusing his efforts on creating a diverse employee pool.
Bain Capital Ventures partner Ajay Agarwal stated via email that small businesses are the backbone our economy. As seen in other sectors like retail and consumer brands, business owners seek modern cloud software that allows them to stay competitive and provide a better customer experience.
Agarwal said that we couldn't be more thrilled to partner with Steve & Rameez in their quest for helping 300,000 independent repair shops transition into the digital age. AutoLeap offers a complete SAAS platform with embedded payment and a marketplace for auto repair shops. This is one of the few verticals that has yet to move to the cloud.
