BeepKart, a full-stack online retailer of used two-wheelers, has announced that it has raised a US$ three million seed round led by Stellaris Venture Partners and Chiratae Ventures. The round also saw participation from angel investors including tech founders like Varun Alagh (Mamaearth), Sahil Barua (Delhivery), Vivekananda Hallekere (Bounce), Kunal Shah (CRED), Ramakant Sharma (Livspace) and Rajesh Yabaji (Blackbuck). Founded by Hemir Doshi and Abhishek Saraf, BeepKart is taking a tech-first approach to address the trust deficit in the massive used two-wheeler market.
BeepKart aims to bridge the wide gap in experience between buying and owning new and used 2-wheelers. Unlike classifieds platforms, vertical-focused BeepKart provides used two-wheeler buyers the required confidence on price, quality and after-sales service.
As per Google’s Auto Gear Shift India 2020 report, 90 per cent of new two-wheeler buyers go online from initial research to final purchase. This behavior is seen across price points and in metros and towns. On BeepKart’s platform buyers can conveniently browse, select and book their preferred used two-wheeler right from their mobile phones.
Hemir Doshi, Co-founder and CEO, BeepKart said, “Two-wheelers form over 80 per cent of India’s vehicle base, and there are seven times as many used two-wheelers sold every year as used cars. Buying a scooter or motorcycle is one of the key purchase decisions by the Indian consumer, yet the market suffers from a lack of rules and a great trust-deficit. In our view, two-wheelers are more amenable to online sales than cars and the decision to buy and sell is made more quickly. We are seeing good early traction for our buyer focused online brand and offering. Our team is excited to have the confidence of our investors in our journey to write consumer-friendly rules of buying used petrol and electric bikes.”
The business is currently live in Bengaluru and will expand to three more locations over the next 12 months. BeepKart will engage throughout the buyer’s ownership lifecycle by providing reliable spare parts, services, accessories, loan and insurance for the used bikes through network partners. The raised capital will be used to build a world-class engineering team to deliver on its tech and product first goals.
Ritesh Banglani, Partner, Stellaris Venture Partners said, “Used vehicles represent one of the largest retail categories globally with virtually no online penetration in used two-wheelers in India. Globally, very large companies have been built selling used cars online. I believe the largest vehicle commerce companies in India will sell bikes and scooters, not cars. With Hemir and Abhishek’s experience in scaling and running operationally intensive businesses, we are confident BeepKart will be the largest company in this category.”
TC Meenakshisundaram, Founder and Managing Director, Chiratae Ventures said, “Over the last 10 years a lot of innovation has happened globally at the cross-section of cars and e-commerce. This decade will see such opportunities in two-wheeler related e-commerce. For most Indians, two-wheelers are the entry point into personal mobility. The pandemic has further increased the desire of millions of Indians to own their personal vehicle. At the same time, new two-wheelers are becoming very expensive and out of reach for many. We believe BeepKart can help fulfill these aspirations by providing reliable and value for money used 2-wheelers, and become the market-leading digital brand in this space. It is great to partner with Hemir – who was part of the Chiratae team for six years before turning entrepreneur – and Abhishek in this exciting journey.”
