Personally, car servicing is a time-consuming, expensive and laborious process. This is a cycle that can lead to more expensive repairs and safety issues and no car owner likes it. Egypt and Dubai-based auto tech startup Odiggo is a platform to solve this problem. It allows car owners to get the help they need by finding car service and parts suppliers from suppliers near them.
Then for suppliers, it increases their sales and reaches more customers without spending on marketing. Odiggo is part of the current YC Summer Batch and has collected $2.2 million in seeds before Demo Day. The list of existing investors participating in the round includes Y Combinator, 500 startups, and Plug and Play Ventures. Regional VCs such as Sidra Ventures, LoftyInc Capital, and Essa Al-Saleh (CEO of Volta-Tux) also participated.
Ahmed Omar and Ahmed Nasser launched Odiggo in December 2019. The company operates a marketplace that connects car owners with service providers who can solve their problems, from servicing and repair to washing and maintenance. A commission-based model is used and Odiggo car dealers charge 20% commission on each transaction. Odiggo is used by more than 50,000 car owners across three markets – Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
The company works directly with more than 300 merchants. It claims that the number of merchants has increased by 40% per month and the number of its users has increased by 200% since the onset of the epidemic. “We believe we are in a waterlogged moment. It’s incredible that Odiggo has grown more than 10 times since COVID was infected last year,” said co-founder Omar.
CEO Omar said that with this new round, Odiggo’s priority will be to achieve consistent growth while expanding its team across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. He added that since Odiggo taps into a mix of data sources, including vehicle metrics and internal software, it will use the same data to deliver more products. Odigo will use some of the funds to continue developing its technology and dashboard software, he said.
“For example, the platform will connect to the car owner’s car and connect the car to the market and provide frequent updates on the condition of your car so that the tires are low, oil changes are required or service is required.” The epidemic has affected the mobility and logistics sectors, especially MENA so that players like Odiggo gain much more visibility from investors.
