Pakistan’s automotive care startup Okayker Secures $700,000 in seed funding

Automotive repairing and maintenance startup Okayker announced on Thursday that it has secured $700,000 in seed funding from multiple institutional investors including Orbit Startups, Cur8 Capital, FRIM Ventures and Sabr Capital.

In a statement, it said multiple local and international angel investors have taken interest in the company’s mission and shown unwavering support.

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“Okayker’s aim is to expand across Pakistan starting from Karachi all the way to Khunjerab, while launching the first automotive emergency service through their network of workshops,” it said on utilisation of the funds.

“Okayker is currently working on partnering with lubricant brands and has recently signed an MoU with Mobil, to help counter the prevalent problem of counterfeit products in the market.”

CEO and co-founder Nashit Iqbal said in the statement that not much has changed since the 1960s when it comes to the automotive repair and maintenance industry.

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“Most workshops and auto parts retailers still operate on pen and paper just like they did 40 years ago and I feel it was my responsibility to bring this industry to the new age,” the CEO was quoted as saying.

Okayker, a Karachi-based startup, was incubated through the National Incubation Center in January 2023. In January 2021 Nashit, Hasnain Akber and Asjad Amin started Okayker before being joined by Anusha Shahid.

“We are on a mission to digitise the $90 billion automotive repair and maintenance industry of the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (MENAP) region,” said the company.

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It aims to save the time of customers who would “otherwise have to waste their hours at the workshop with an impending fear of getting scammed by the technician”.

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“Customers can get maintenance work done at their own location with the comfort of warranty on any work done,” it said.

As per the firm, it has fixed more than 10,000 cars in the last 26 months (starting March 2021 when it became fully operational).

Now it has over 250 vendors and a network of 850 workshops in Karachi.

“We believe that enabling workshops and retailers is the only way to provide convenience and quality care to these vehicle owners,” the statement said. “Therefore, we are building an end-to-end platform for the $90 billion ecosystem in the MENAP region comprising of mobile application for placing an appointment for customers.”

FRIM Ventures official Faizan Khan stated that his firm “is excited to support Okayker in its journey”.

“The autocare space is highly fragmented with immense information asymmetry. Okayker aims to solve this problem with enhanced transparency and control for the customer,” he said.

“While having a disruptive business model, the company’s financial plan sees a clear path to profitability which is critical for a viable and sustainable business model.”