By Moses Akaigwe
In demonstration of its commitment to facilitating value-creating interactions across stakeholders in the automotive industry, leading auto tech platform, Fixit45, has announced the acquisition of Parkit, a network of tech enabled auto care and car wash centres.
Since its entry in to the market in July 2021, Fixit45 has been focused on building a platform that provides a seamless, collaborative infrastructure for interactions to occur across customers’ needs that include auto repair and maintenance services, fleet management, auto parts sourcing and delivery.
The platform also covers auto care, refurbishment and upgrades, repair financing and mechanic workshop software as well as pre-purchase inspections, underlying these with moderation for compliance and accountability.
Fixit45 caters to needs in the repair and maintenance segment, Parkit plays in the auto care vertical, Xparts is a discovery and trading platform for spare parts where you can explore a rich inventory, find exacts parts based on the platform’s AI tools and get these parts in very good time and Rampware is a Software-as-a-Service tool to help auto-workshops manage their operations and improve service delivery experience.
On the acquisition, Justus Obaoye, CEO and Co-Founder, Fixit45 said, “Parkit was committed to building out and digitizing the fragmented vertical in the autocare and car wash space. They provided business support, training and consumables to businesses and ensured that the experience was rewarding for fleet and car owners.
“We found synergies in what they were doing at the time and we approached them to join us in this journey to fix and build the aftermarket ecosystem which has culminated in the acquisition. Parkit has been fully integrated in the Fixit45 family and we look forward to providing market leadership.”
According to Gerald Okonkwo, VP, Business Development, Fixit45 and Founder, Parkit, “Our business was founded in June 2018 to use technology in making the customer journey for car washes very seamless by automating payments, helping them acquire the right tools for the job and providing professional care services that were not available in-country.
“This journey has been a collaborative experience and we are blessed to have found the right team at Fixit45 with bold ambitions to create value for consumers in this space. The acquisition was finalized in September 2021 and we are looking to many more wins.
“When we started, we had to import most of our consumables and materials, but today, we are to provide quality car shampoo, upholstery, tire and engine wash, polish and air fresheners. This is just one of many success stories that this acquisition has berthed.”
The duo explained that automobile ownership, especially for car and fleet owners, can be a frustrating experience owing to a myriad of factors that include highly fragmented, mostly unregulated industry, informal service providers who often lack the technical competence, as well as proliferation of counterfeit spare parts with a lack of warranty on repairs.
These challenges, according to them, have also impacted the service delivery experience from service providers.
To change the narrative in the space, Fixit45 is collaborating with a lot of stakeholders and partners with a view to deepening value creation in the ecosystem. Some of these stakeholders include workshops, spare part suppliers, insurance companies, tow trucks, fintechs, and fleet owners.
The Fixit45 Vehicle Intact Programme (VIP) has been designed as the name suggests to delivering quality and affordable repair and maintenance services via subscription-based plans with a view to ensuring that the lifetime value of a vehicle or fleet is enhanced and productivity optimized.
The rich bouquet of plans come in four packages that include the service plan, maintenance plan, extended services plan and the emergency services plan.
While the service plan ensures that subscribers don’t have to worry about workmanship and getting their vehicles in good shape, the maintenance ;plan is a commitment to a routine and or scheduled preventive maintenance which in turn mitigates the need for some repair work on the vehicle.
The extended service plan works as an HMO for vehicles in which subscribers transfer to us the duty of keeping their fleet and or vehicles operational at all times. Because breakdowns don’t announce themselves, the emergency service plan is designed to give comfort and succor to motorists in the event of a breakdown.
With presence across four cities in Nigeria, more than 100 network partners and over 2500 vehicles under management, Fixit45’s ambition is to become Africa’s largest and most trusted auto tech platform.
“We have built a robustend-to-end ecosystem platform that caters for all players in the aftermarket segment. The industry has largely been based on brick-and-mortar operations and it is our intention to disrupt and digitize this space using technology,” said Abdulazeez Ogunjobi, Cofounder & CTO.
“It is gratifying to see the uptake and adoption of Fixit45’s service platform by corporates in the FMCG, Mobility and Tech industry. The glowing commendations we have received will further spur us to do more in the aftermarket space. Our value propositions ofaffordability, peace of mind, quick turnaround time, convenience, quality assurance and accessibility will never go out of fashion. We will double down on these and ensure that the vehicle ownership experience is better improved,” said Bemigho Awala, Head of Marketing and Communications.
