ki Mobility Investment Announcement
SeaLink Capital Partners (“SCP”) has entered into a partnership with ki Mobility Solutions Private Limited (“ki Mobility” or “Company”), one of India’s leading players in the automotive aftermarket industry. The partnership, which involves infusion of growth capital by SCP into the Company, marks the beginning of a strategic alliance among SCP, Pratithi Investment Trust (represented by its trustee Mr. S. Gopalakrishnan, co-founder of Infosys) and family members of the TVS Group, with proceeds being utilized for developing new platforms and products, building out brands and expanding reach to achieve scale in India’s highly fragmented automotive aftermarket sector.
ki Mobility is an integrated automotive aftermarket player involved in the sale of parts & accessories and provision of maintenance & repair services through a unique online-to-offline business model. It is leveraging new-age technologies, such as telematics, connected mobility, and artificial intelligence, to create a separate digital ecosystem in the auto aftermarket space that is beneficial to all stakeholders. The Company is promoted by TVS Automobile Solutions Private Limited (TVS ASPL), which is part of the $8.5 billion TVS Group and is also one of India’s largest players in independent automotive aftermarket business with a pan-India supply chain infrastructure.
India’s independent automotive aftermarket industry, which has been growing at a CAGR of 7-10% over the past five years, is highly fragmented in nature, with over 40,000 retailers, 100,000 garages and thousands of small distributors across the country. This has created large inefficiencies in the market as existing players work in silos with independent operations, making the industry ripe for consolidation and technological disruption. ki Mobility aims to tap this opportunity and disrupt the market by providing an end-to-end spectrum of offerings – from aggregating service demand to procuring parts to providing service fulfillment – through a technology-enabled digital platform that leverages the robust supply chain of its traditional distribution model.
Mr. R. Dinesh, Director, TVS ASPL said, “ki Mobility has developed a unique digital platform to address the changing technology landscape in the automotive aftermarket sector. We are delighted to have SCP on board in our journey to make industry stakeholders more tech-enabled and future-ready. We are confident that SCP’s relationships and networks will provide an added fillip to our growth and look forward to working with them in delivering superior value to our customers.”
Mr. Heramb Hajarnavis, Managing Partner, SCP added, “We are very excited to partner with GS Raghavan and the entire team at ki Mobility. We have been extremely impressed with how the Company has built an integrated online-to-offline business model in a curated manner through in-house development of businesses as well as strategic acquisitions. We are delighted to re-unite with Dinesh and the TVS Group in this partnership and look forward to actively supporting the Company as it embarks on its next phase of growth to reshape the automotive aftermarket industry.”
About ki Mobility: ki Mobility is one of India’s leading players in the automotive aftermarket industry. The Company aims to create an innovative, digital parts and services delivery model that will provide enhanced value to all stakeholders, including manufacturers, distributors, retailers, garages, as well as end customers.
About SCP: SCP founded in 2015 is focused on forging partnerships with exceptional companies with strong growth potential, competitive differentiation, and entrepreneurs who have the highest standards of integrity. SCP combines its active ownership model with a strong partnership-based approach to go beyond financial investment and drive long-term value creation for all stakeholders.