TVS Automobile invests Rs 75 cr in three start-ups

Company aims to provide digital business solutions to vehicle and component manufacturers

TVS Automobile Solutions Limited (TVS ASL), an aftermarket player and part of TVS Group, has made around Rs 75 crore investments in three start-ups (e-commerce, Big Data / Analytics & CRM and Internet of Things) to form a start-up ecosystem for its digital initiatives where the company will provide digital business solutions to vehicle and component manufacturers to enable them achieve customer satisfaction and higher market share in the $9.5 bn aftermarket space.

"We are investing around Rs 75 crore from internal accruals. We are expecting these businesses to generate a revenue of Rs 250 crore in the first three years," G Srinivasa Raghavan, Executive Director, TVS Automobile Solutions Ltd. He said that there is a lot of potential for the digital soultions in the $9.5 billion after market space, G Srinivasa Raghavan, Executive Director, TVS Automobile Solutions Ltd.

The company has acquired majority stake in Delhi-based Storeji Pvt Ltd, which runs an e-commerce aftermarket website Jazzmyride.com offering autoparts, accessories and platforms and formed a partnership with CRM, analytics and big data firm Hansa Equity to form a joint venture Autosense where TVS ASL has 49% stake, to offer technology and analytics based customer management services.

It has also acquired complete equity of Redsun Consulting, a Bengaluru-based internet of things start-up with solutions such as Connected Cars in addressing safety, convenience and integrated services cor customers. Connected Cars is the next major digital platform that would bring product development closer to the customers through real time visibility of performance of the vehicle.

The services are expected to start in next two months and the compamy is in talks with some of the OEMs to implement this, said G Srinivasa Raghavan, executive director of TVS ASL.

TVS ASL made investments in Jazzmyride.com, an e-commerce leader in theauto aftermarket with over 3,00,000 customers, deals with parts and accessories for passenger vehicles, two wheelers and commercial vehicles. It offers more than 100,000 products across 150 categories and more than 52 brands.

Autosense: It provides technology and analytics based customer management services in business as a service model for the industry. Cequity is a leader in data-driven marketing business using CRM, analytics & Big Data solutions across a variety of industry verticals. Cequity has partnered with TVS ASL in creating Autosense - Digital technologies and analytics based marketing services company for dedicated automotive vertical.

Raghavan said that TVS ASL is uniquely positioned in providing both digital technology solutions and brick & mortar infrastructure in addressing the needs of manufacturers. Digital technologies help in enabling transparency in supply chain, visibility of consumption and therefore help them customise products and services towards market needs.

He further added, "We have taken the leadership in transforming Indian automotive aftermarket by creating an ecosystem of retailers, garages & fleet wherein each stakeholder is benefited in terms of growth, efficiencies and profitability by actively participating in the value creation for end customers."

Sunil Dhingra, Founder & CEO, Jazzmyride.com, said, "We see tremendous synergy with TVS ASL with O2O (online to offline) retailing approach thereby bringing the best of both the worlds to the benefit of all stakeholders in the value chain."

Swaminathan, Co-founder & CEO, Hansa Cequity, added that the company is excited to partner with TVS ASL in Autosense which will provide technology and platform based, analytics-driven marketing services in "business as a service" model for the after-market industry. Autosense will help improve sales force, provide analytics solutions for increasing parts efficiency and fleet management analytics to bring down on cost of run for fleet, etc. for the auto industry."

Ravi Neeladri, RedSun Telematics, said, "We have invested 100,000 man hours in developing this integrated platform that brings key safety features like theft alarms, towing alarm, geo fencing, etc., integrated service management with remote vehicle diagnostics, predictive maintenance, service maintenance due alerts, etc. for ensuring higher life of the vehicle, driver management for passenger cars & commercial vehicles and fuel management features to bring down running costs."