How Losing A Close Friend Inspired This Entrepreneur To Start 24-Hour Roadside Assistance Startup

Losing a close one in a car accident can be a traumatic experience for anyone. According to a recent World Bank report, India accounts for the highest number of road accidents globally, with 1.5 lakh people being killed and more than 4.5 lakh crippled annually in 4.5 lakh road accidents.

Vimal Singh, a Bangalore-based entrepreneur, a few years ago had to experience a similar situation when he lost one of his close friends in a road accident, his friend was unable to obtain the necessary help on time. This incident shook him to the core to the extent that he decided to do something for the people so that such mishaps could be avoided in the future and nobody would lose their dear ones in fatal road accidents.

What Happened That Day?

'The incident happened in 2015. My friend was travelling back to his hometown, which is 35 km away from Bangalore. He was supposed to reach home at 8:30 in the morning. I was continuously calling him as I was concerned for him," Vimal shared with The Logical Indian.

"In the afternoon, he called to inform that he was at his friend's place and had taken his bike to reach home.

On the way, he had met with an accident and passed away later," Vimal shared.

Unfortunately, it took around four-five hours to get him the first level of treatment. He had a head injury and a clot had already developed there, Vimal said, adding that it became difficult to save his life.

"Hospitals do not start immediate treatment unless you pay some advance money. The same happened to my friend who lost his life due to delayed treatment," the entrepreneur said.

How ReadyAssist Started?

So, in 2018, he launched ReadyAssist, 24-hour roadside assistance to provide the necessary help without delay if someone has met with an accident or is stuck in the middle of the road due to an unforeseen situation.

In a world where accidents can be inevitable, ReadyAssist can reach the stranded customer in 30 minutes. These customers can also be from essential services such as doctors, front-line workers, police officers, etc.

"For example, if a vehicle transporting oxygen cylinder or blood to a patient in need is delayed due to the breakdown, the whole point of getting there goes in vain. ReadyAssist is a new-age start-up with high aspirations on fixing the fundamental gaps in the Indian RSA segment," Vimal explained.

ReadyAssist is a roadside assistance provider proactively addressing the real-time vehicle breakdown problems of customers by using deep machine learning, data intelligence, and operations efficiency.

Company's Growth

It began its operation from Bangalore, with a team of seven members and 20 odd mechanics, but in just one year, today it is powered by a start-up enthusiast team of more than 250 in-house team members and over 5,000 mechanics.

It has expanded the service network to 26 cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli, Shimoga, Vijayawada, etc. and is available 24/7 on the spot to its stranded customers in less than 30 minutes.

The company has raised two rounds of funding— an angel investment from an individual entrepreneur who has successfully exited from his previous start-up and a seed fund from a group of high-profile investors working in a senior leadership position with a large corporate.

The company provides on-demand and subscription-based on-the-spot vehicle breakdown service and general repairs for both bikes and cars to direct consumers, large vehicle rental companies, and corporates through its fleet of mechanics and tow trucks. It also leverages the strength of the aggregate network in case of a high-demand burst.

Under his visionary leadership, the company has grown many folds, from having 1,500 to 45,000 work orders a month presently. It has clocked an overall revenue of four crores till March 2020 from three lakhs. However, it was operational for only three months in the last year. Currently, the company is working on strategies to achieve 10 times growth in the next 12 months.

Vimal aims to make ReadyAssist services reach out to every nook and corner across India and launch a subscription-based RSA in Pan India by 2022.

"In the next five years, the company strives to become the best automobile service provider in the country by employing more than 15,000 skilled workforce and to clock Rs1000 Cr revenue," the company shared.

Apart from all this, ReadyAssist operates a reskilling program through its internal unit called 'Mecademy' to empower individuals from financially weaker backgrounds with free training and development programs in the automobile service domain with an assured job.

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