Mobility 54 Investment SAS invests in SPAREPAP - a digital platformer of after sales in Kenya.
June 8,2022
Mobility 54 Investment SAS ("Mobility 54") - the corporate venture capital subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho Corporation ("Toyota Tsusho") and CFAO SAS ("CFAO") - invested in SparePap Limited ("Sparepap") – after sales marketplace in Kenya - , and entered into a strategic commercial partnership.
1. Background
Africa has been for a while the large importer of used cars in the world with a corresponding massive automotive spare parts and car maintenance industry, which had been developed over time to serve the repair and maintenance needs of the car owners.
However, the automotive after sales market remains largely informal and brick and mortar stores, which may not contribute as an incentive for service providers to provide better quality services. As a result, car owners are plagued by a lack of transparency in pricing, proliferation of counterfeit parts, difficulties in accessing genuine and reliable mechanics and lack of a service booking system.
With the widespread digital solutions in Kenya and Africa at large, it is a market to be improved and transformed with the digital technologies.
2. About Sparepap
Founded in 2019, Sparepap offers a seamless digital solution for convenient and efficient accessibility to spare parts and car maintenance to car owners and the opportunity for parts merchants and service providers to reach wider audiences. Together with credit facilities for car emergencies and digital car insurance (with partners) on the horizon, Sparepap is the motorist's one-stop solution for car maintenance.
The Sparepap app allows car owners to find, compare prices, buy spare parts from trusted merchants verified by Sparepap, and get them delivered at their convenience.
Merchants can reach a wider market on Sparepap and enjoy increased sales from a larger audience by listing their inventory in the application.
Beyond buying spare parts, Sparepap offers vetted, qualified and trusted mechanics on demand to car owners, especially when out of range of their local mechanic.
Also, with the Sparepap app, car owners can schedule car service appointments with verified corporate and local service centers and garages that are verified in Sparepap system.
3. Business strategy through the investment
The investment in Sparepap is aimed at improving the quality of after sales by solving a lack of transparency in services and products as well as inefficient process.
The CFAO group has been expanding its network of after sales of several brands in Kenya.
A series of synergies with Sparepap is expected to be generated by utilizing group after sales experience.