Montir raises Series A funding from East Ventures

• Carries out heavy repair and spare part changes at a customer’s location
• Serves 1,500 cars monthly; has 40 professional mechanics on the platform

INDONESIA-based Montir, an on-demand automotive service and spare parts company that aims to bring car workshops to customers, has secured an undisclosed sum in Series A funding from East Ventures.

The investment will accelerate Montir’s mission to become the top one-stop solution for automotive servicing needs.

Having first met in Seattle as finance students, Mikhail Laurus and Dennis Eka Putra founded Montir in 2016 to create a new innovation in the automotive service industry by applying tech to make processes simpler and more convenient.

In Jakarta, the car service market (not including body repair) is estimated to be as much as US$1 billion per year. However, it is one of the most time-consuming activities as many car owners can spend hours, or even days, having for their car looked at.

With the rapid growth of on-demand services and e-commerce, car owners wanted a one-stop platform where they can save time and money without compromising on automotive service quality. Montir strives to be that solution.

“Getting the best price and quality has been a challenge in the automotive industry. If car owners go to authorised workshops, the quality will be excellent but the price is on the higher end. Going to non-authorised workshops will be cheaper but the service quality is questionable. Montir provides the best of both,” says Mikhail.

Montir now has 40 mechanics on their platform and most of them have more than five years of working experience.

“They are very experienced. However, we also provide training every time a mechanic joins our platform.”

He adds that Montir is different from authorised service shops that only sell original spare parts.

“We, on the other hand, offer multiple parts options (original and aftermarket) with different prices so that our customers have more options and choose parts depending on their preferences.”

The platform services more than 1,500 cars monthly in Jakarta and the surrounding areass.

Customers find Montir through Google. “Customers can go to our online platforms (website and mobile app), tell us what car problem they are facing and schedule a consultation. Our service advisor will come to inspect the car and advise on what service or spare parts the customer needs. Once agreed, we will send the parts and replace them right away at the chosen location,” explains Mikhail.

Dennis adds, “Almost all our customers are surprised at the level of service we provide and how it can be done at their location. We are proud to be the only company in Indonesia that can do heavy repair and spare part changes at a customer’s location.

“We also provide several qualities of spare parts to fulfil a customer’s budget, ranging from original quality and aftermarket parts, to used spare parts. Through our platform, customers will save a lot of time. They don’t need to go to workshops and leave the car there for a few days.”

In terms of challenges, Dennis thinks that the market's awareness of on-demand car services is still low, and people don’t know that most of the work can actually be done at their location.

“So, the challenge is to educate more people about our service, while also ensuring that we perform the best quality service possible.”

“Montir is solving an inefficiency problem in the growing automotive industry. Indonesia has more than 129 million vehicles on the road (80% motorcycles and 20% cars). The founders have exemplified the ability to deliver high quality automotive services faster and cheaper at any location. We believe that Montir is poised to take the automotive service industry to the next level,” says East Ventures managing partner Willson Cuaca.

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