Riyadh - Nuwa Capital has invested in Speero, Saudi Arabia’s leading digital player in automotive after-sales. Speero operates a SaaS-enabled auto parts and repair platform and has quickly become central to the industry's transformation in Saudi Arabia. This is a pre-Series A round for the company. The round was co-led by EQ2 Ventures, and other investors include Jameel Investment Management Company (JIMCO), Impact46, and Access Bridge Ventures.
“The auto industry has up until this point been fragmented and resistant to digital transformation. Through its platform, Speero enables all participants in this segment to transact more transparently and effectively to the benefit of all.” said Sarah Abu Risheh, Partner at Nuwa Capital.
Bringing much-needed transparency
Speero was launched in 2017 by Abdullah bin Shamlan and Ameen Mahfouz, who together have extensive experience in the auto and technology industries. The founders recognized early on the need to cater to the automotive aftersales market, which had otherwise been overlooked by technological change and has remained mostly offline, largely fragmented, and opaque to both customers and suppliers.
Speero’s wealth of data and insights is actively put to work to simplify the end-user experience and empowers both auto parts sellers and repair shops with management software.
"We are excited to welcome Nuwa Capital as an investor in Speero as we advance to the next stage of our journey to digitalise the automotive after-sales ecosystem in Saudi Arabia. As a regional investor, Nuwa Capital understands the needs of the Kingdom's innovators and we believe their track-record together with their investment philosophy will play an important role in shaping our growth," said Abdullah Bin Shamlan, cofounder and Managing Director, Speero.
A three-pronged approach
Speero provides a consumer interface where end-users can order new or used auto parts or request quotations. So far, the company has served over 3.5M quotations and manages about half a million auto parts listings on their platform. The company operates a B2B2C SaaS platform, offering partners and automotive services providers access to inventory management, invoicing, administration functions, business development and demand generation as well as best-in-class data and analytics.
Speero has also partnered with insurance companies, which connect with Speero and Speero-certified repair shops - a key aspect of the platform. The appeal for insurance companies is clear: the industry is quite fragmented with very little transparency on prices. With parts constituting 60 to 70% of the cost borne by insurance companies, the transparency and credibility offered by Speero has helped partners and insurance companies working with them to reduce purchasing costs by 25 percent.
“The auto industry in Saudi Arabia is a wide and complex market, with the kingdom remaining the fifth importer of auto parts in the world. Saudi Arabia is at the forefront of a regional movement towards cashless transactions, optimized regulation, streamlined service and increased overall transparency. Speero is well positioned to spearhead the transformation in its industry,” said Sarah Abu Risheh, Partner at Nuwa Capital.
Currently delivering to 90 cities in Saudi Arabia, the team is also in the process of expanding their coverage to the Western provinces. Speero will use the funds to supercharge their software and optimize their operations across the country, including the setup of new warehousing facilities.
© Press Release 2021
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