The UAE’s leading online automotive service provider, MySyara recently concluded a successful $650,000 pre-series A fundraising round, with the company confirming 600 percent year-on-year revenue growth.
The Dubai-based company will be rolling out its services to customers in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, while its online auto service package is set to launch in the second quarter of the year.
In an exclusive interview with Arabian Business, MySyara CEO, Chirenj Chandran, reveals the rationale behind launching the company, how it has been impacted over the past 12 months and where he would like to see the business in five years’ time.
When did you come up with the idea of MySyara or realise there was a gap in the market for the business?
The idea of MySyara was born when my co-founder and I realised that there was a gap in the automotive service sector in the region. We both have experience in the automotive industry, from the supply chain and retail ends of the spectrum.
We realised that customers who were looking to service their cars have to go through a tedious process, when it can be completed all at the comfort of their fingertips. A car to most people is almost as personal as their mobile phones, so we wanted to provide a quick, seamless and professional experience all via our app.
MySyara CEO, Chirenj Chandran.
What is your business plan?
We are looking to develop over multiple stages. We have exciting developments in the pipeline thanks to state-of-the-art technology, which includes machine learning and AI. Through this, we aim to make car ownership easier for customers in the UAE and beyond and provide convenient, seamless and transparent car care without jeopardising the customer experience.
Is the company bootstrapped or have you raised capital from investors? Can you take us through your funding journey?
The company was bootstrapped by my partner and I until the end of last year. That being said, however, we were able to organise and complete our first round of funding on January 31. The journey itself was quite humbling, and we learned a lot from the feedback that we received. We started considering options for external financing once the lockdowns came in to effect, as it brought a severe dent to our cash flow.
The experience itself also brought a renewed drive and focus into maximising our experimentations and growth for MySyara. This drive led us to experience 600 percent growth post April 2020. My advice to other start-ups in this position is to continue working hard and to keep learning.
How has the company been impacted by Covid-19?
With Covid-19 there have been a variety of challenges and opportunities for start-ups in an uncertain marketplace. For starters, the pandemic has had an impact on the overall investment environment, with start-ups being one of the most vulnerable, both from a business and operations perspective.
However, the crisis has also served as a catalyst for technology adoption, with digitisation becoming a core component of everyday life as more and more people look for services from the comfort of their own homes. As a society we have teleported into the future where mobile apps, Zoom calls and online grocery deliveries are the norm.
At MySyara, we had this working in our favour, which led to widespread adoption on our services. As such, we were able to grow our users and revenues multi-fold.
Where would you like to see the company in the next five years?
In the next five years, we are looking to expand MySyara into other markets in the GCC, North Africa and South East Asia. Our focus is to grow rapidly, scale the business model, partner where necessary and grow inorganically where possible. We believe that the car service industry has been one of the lowest technology adopters among the service industry and we are looking at methods to solve this problem.
What is the best advice anyone has ever given you?
One of the best pieces of advice I have ever received was from a dear friend – Ziad Al Ali. He said: ‘Take a break once in a while. Disconnect, so that you can reconnect with vigour.’ And believe me, the feeling of burning out is something that every founder needs to fight with, only to come back stronger.
If you could go back, what would you have done differently with the company?
For my partner and I, collectively we came together with experience around past failures. MySyara isn’t our first start-up, so we were able to share and discuss our weaknesses and learnings to create better solutions. This is essentially how MySyara came to be and something we continue to improve on a weekly basis.
Our advice to our team has always been to ‘fail fast, in order to move forward’.
What is your vision for the company?
The vision for the company is to be the preferred automotive service provider across the region. We will be expanding soon to other markets and will be making those announcements soon enough.
For us, we believe ride ownership is an aspiration. It’s deeper than just mobility and we are here to make it easier.
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