Zonnett plans to raise $3-5 million

Former Zee Group CEO and his friend founded start-up to expand its service to 6 more cities

Auto repairs start-up Zonnett, founded by former Zee Group CEO Abhijit Saxena and former investment banker Kanishka Garg, is planning to raise around three-five million USD to expand its services.

The proposed fund raising would be utilised for investments in geographic expansion, product development and scaling of operation in the start-up which positions itself as a one-stop solution to automobile repairs and services.

Kanishka Garg, chief operations officer of Zonnett, said that in January the company had raised about half a million USD to develop production and applications and to set up operations in Mumbai.

Investors include seasoned angel investors Atul Phadnis, founder of What’s ON India (now a Gracenote US-owned company), Chandresh Ruparel (managing director, Rothschild India), Suresh Balakrishnan (joint managing director, STULZ CHSPL India) and German MNC STULZ-CHSPL, Indian subsidiary of STULZ Group from Germany.

Zonnett is in active discussions with investors for raising Series A capital, about $3.5 million, said Garg.

The proposed fund raising would support the company's plan to expand its operations to six more cities — Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Ahmedabad.

The company plans to have 600 workshops in eight cities by March-June 2017, as compared to 110 workshops currently in Mumbai and Pune.

“Currently, Zonnett is multi-model and we are open for exclusive brands,” said Garg.

In the Indian car after sales service industry that is worth of Rs 20,000 crore, which is mostly in the unorganised sector.

Zonnett aims to provide a comprehensive 360 degree solution to all car owners across India for all car services and repair requirements.

Garg claims that Zonnett services is cheaper by 20 per cent as compared to branded OEMs serve centres.

Abhijit Saxena is Chief Executive Officer and has 22 years of work experience which across ZEE Group, Netcore, Times group, and also entrepreneurial experience across Print, TV, Digital and Mobile

Kanishka Garg is the Chief Operations Officer who is leading the operations and fund raising. He is an engineer from IIT Madras and is a passionate automotive specialist. Before founding ZONNETT, he has been a career investment banker with over 10 years experience in advising founders in creating tech scalable business models and raising funds from VC investors.

Vikrant is Chief Technology Officer and has 12 plus years of experience in IT incl. 2 Corporates and 2 Start-ups.