In just three years, Seattle-based Wrench has expanded into all 50 states, swallowed two similar startups and raised more than $30 million.
The company’s app allows vehicle owners to book house calls for such problems as battery and radiator replacements, oil changes and brake jobs. Wrench announced this week it has raised $20 million in its most recent round of funding, led by Vulcan Capital. Longtime investor Madrona Venture Group, along with Tenaya Capital and Marubeni Corp., participated as well.
“There’s a ton of really cool technological advancements going on in the auto industry, especially in the way people buy cars,” said Ed Peterson, CEO and co-founder of Wrench. And yet, he added, “How people take care of their cars really hasn’t changed.”
The funding will drive growth for a company that has been expanding at rapid pace. Since it was founded in Seattle in 2015, Wrench has crept into big cities from Phoenix to Miami, and plans to expand into Canada after it acquired Fiix and its 80,000 customers last month.
“Wrench’s technology-enabled mobile mechanic service saves customers time and money, resulting in high customer satisfaction and lifetime value,” said Stuart Nagae, director of venture capital at Vulcan Capital, in a statement.
A 2017 study by Cox Automotive Group found 60% of car buyers’ shopping happened online, and 56% of online car-shopping happened via smartphone. Companies are taking note. Joydrive, another Seattle-based startup that allows customers to buy, lease and sell used cars online, has expanded to 14 cities. Bellevue-based 321 Ignition helps dealerships get a piece of the action by building comprehensive, mobile-friendly websites for customers to browse models and finance options before they approach dealerships to test drive. Carvana, Shift and Vroom operate in similar marketplaces.
But Wrench is one of a few car-repair services that are taking advantage of online models.
Nick Gorton, vice president of product innovation at Edmunds, an online automotive retailer and industry resource, said digital retailing in the automotive industry “has kicked off in earnest over the last 24 months.” Customers, he says, “want to build a deal online. They don’t want the old experience of negotiating.”
That’s why startups dealing with cars, including Wrench, offer quotes online instead of requiring customers to pick up the phone or drive to a dealership or auto body shop. And most deliver their products or services straight to the door.
“You see a growing culture of convenience,” Peterson said. “Uber at a push of a button. Movies on demand.”
Wrench says its service saves customers up to 30% on maintenance compared to dealer services, and an average of three hours of traveling and wait time by making the diagnostic process easier. Instead of asking customers to use their car’s on-board diagnostic system to troubleshoot the myriad of subsystems within the car, or to drive to a dealership or repair shop, Wrench uses conversational artificial intelligence to ask users questions about their cars long before a mechanic arrives, with help from a master list of on-board diagnostic system information.
“One of our goals was to diagnose a car without ever seeing it,” Peterson said. “How do you use technology to be able to narrow down those answers to questions to troubleshoot?”
Of Wrench’s 270 employees, about 100 are mechanics certified by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence, scattered across the country, who have worked on around 10,000 vehicles collectively. About 60 employees and 15 mechanics operate in Seattle. Peterson said the company made a choice not to contract with mechanics, believing full-time employees would improve its service.
“I can walk your dog or drive a car. I can’t fix your car,” Peterson said. “Mechanics are skilled technicians … you have to support them correctly.”
Wrench raises $20M to ratchet up growth of tech-powered car repair platform.
Technology has helped the auto industry make tremendous strides, from fuel efficiency improvements to the promise of self-driving cars, but getting cars fixed hasn’t changed much. Seattle startup Wrench just raised $20 million to modernize that process.
Wrench employs “mobile mechanics” around the country that come to the customer to do repair jobs without a physical shop or dealership. Repairs can be done anywhere from an office parking lot to a downtown parking garage to a customer’s driveway.
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Wrench has now raised a total of $40 million and serviced more than 100,000 vehicles in its three years of existence. The service is live in parts of all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Wrench CEO Ed Petersen. (Wrench Photo)
Wrench plans to use the cash infusion to expand to more markets, add additional repair services and bring in new executive-level employees and mechanics. Vulcan Capital, the investment arm of the late Paul Allen, led the Series C round, with participation from Madrona Venture Group, Tenaya Capital and Marubeni Corporation.
Wrench has been referred to as an Uber for car repair, but unlike the ride-hailing giant, Wrench does not offer a marketplace matching customers and independent contractors. It employs the mechanics directly, and it offers a a one-year, 12,000-mile guarantee on parts and labor.
“Pure marketplaces work well for commodity things like driving a car or walking a dog, and it’s a great model for them,” Wrench CEO Ed Petersen told GeekWire. “But being a mechanic, these guys go to school for a long time; they spend a lot on tools. It’s a skilled position, and they need direct support.”
The company has about 270 employees, and 100 of them are mechanics.
Founded in 2016, the company is primarily known for its consumer business. However, in the last year it has quietly built up a formidable fleet business, sending its mechanics on jobs for big transportation companies. Every second a vehicle is down it costs those companies money, and Wrench says it can turn around repairs much faster than dealers or other mechanics and reduce costs by up to 30 percent.
The company wouldn’t go into much detail about its fleet customer base, but Petersen did say Wrench services Garda’s armored cars, and it is working on a pilot project with a “large delivery company.” It also works with the United States Postal Service and has deals with smaller companies such as Seattle-based mechanical contractor MacDonald Miller.
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Wrench has serviced fleets for several years, but the company really kicked that part of the business into high gear in the last year. Wrench brought in April Garbusjuk, a former Oracle sales executive, as vice president of sales, and Petersen said she has been instrumental in streamlining the fleet business.
Wrench also has a logistics platform to track maintenance and anticipate repairs before they need to happen. The software platform is free for enterprise customers, and Wrench makes money on the repair jobs.
Wrench ties into a vehicle’s on-board computer and diagnostic systems and interprets error codes. It has a conversational artificial intelligence engine that learns to ask the right questions about car problems over time.
“Our dream is to be able to diagnose a vehicle without ever seeing it,” Petersen said.
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The Wrench team. (Photo via Wrench)
Petersen co-founded Wrench with Doug Stevens and Casey Willis. He and some of his current colleagues founded and sold Intelius, a public record search company, and TalentWise, which does background checks and other screening services.
The new round comes a month after Wrench acquired Toronto-based competitor Flix. The deal brings Flix’s 80,000 North American customers under Wrench’s umbrella. A year before that Wrench acquired Otobots, a Chicago-based company that operated a similar mobile repair marketplace.
Wrench’s primary competition is YourMechanic, a more mature company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Like Wrench, YourMechanic has an enterprise service, but is different in that it uses independent contractor mechanics.
Petersen said the market for mobile car repair is getting bigger, thanks to the prevalence of apps that simplify major services. Younger generations expect a level of service that has long been missing from areas like car repair.
“They expect that culture of convenience; hit a button and someone will come to you,” Petersen said.
Wrench Announces $20M Series C to Bring Highest Quality Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Services to More Doors Across U.S.
Led by Vulcan Capital, Funding Will Fuel Internal Company Growth, Further U.S. Expansion and Broaden Offerings in Current Markets
SEATTLE, Nov. 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Wrench, the mobile vehicle maintenance and repair solution that brings dealer-quality service directly to consumers and fleet customers across the U.S., today announced a $20 million Series C funding round led by Vulcan Capital, with additional participation from Madrona Venture Group, Tenaya Capital and Marubeni Corporation.
Wrench, Inc. https://wrench.com/ (PRNewsfoto/Wrench, Inc.)
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The funding will accelerate Wrench's growth, allowing the company to further spread its service-area footprint to untapped markets. Wrench also has plans to hire new executive-level employees, expand mechanic service offerings and add additional mechanics in key target markets.
"Busy consumers need a simple scheduling and vehicle diagnosis system to deliver repair and maintenance services without the hassle of the waiting room," said Ed Petersen, CEO of Wrench. "With full-time, trusted mechanics and world-class operations supporting both vehicle owners and the staff that serves them, Wrench has provided convenience, competitive pricing and unmatched quality repairs to over 100,000 vehicles. As Wrench continues to grow and expand both our service offerings and footprint, we look to bring our convenient solution to many more consumers and commercial fleets across the country."
Wrench allows users to schedule vehicle maintenance and repair service with full-time, ASE-certified mechanics who travel directly to the customer's destination of choice. Wrench mechanics make the experience hassle-free, servicing cars and trucks of varying makes and models with unparalleled quality of service. Every Wrench repair or service includes a one-year, 12,000-mile warranty and an extensive vehicle inspection with a report delivered to the customer.
On average, using Wrench saves vehicle owners upwards of three hours of travel and service time, reducing the stress of vehicle maintenance and repair. Wrench also saves users as much as 30 percent on vehicle maintenance and repairs when compared to traditional dealer service departments.
"Consumers are embracing on-demand services that make their lives better. Wrench's technology-enabled mobile mechanic service saves customers time and money – resulting in high customer satisfaction and lifetime value," said Stuart Nagae, Director of Venture Capital at Vulcan Capital. "With more than 270 million vehicles in the United States, the opportunity is enormous."
The funding comes on the heels of Wrench's acquisition of Canada-based mobile automotive mechanic startup Fiix. Fiix provided mechanic services to more than 80,000 customers within their North American network. The acquisition will allow Wrench to unlock new customers across the United States, as well as strengthen Wrench's growing fleet services business.
For more information on Wrench, visit www.wrench.com.
About WrenchWrench is the mobile vehicle maintenance and repair solution that brings dealer-quality service directly to consumers and fleet customers across the U.S. With full-time, ASE-certified mobile mechanics, Wrench provides full-service auto repairs and maintenance that users can schedule at their location of choice via the Wrench mobile app. Each Wrench service request comes with a fixed price or customized quote, with savings of as much as 30 percent versus traditional dealer service repairs. Wrench performs a wide range of repairs and maintenance on all types of cars and trucks, saving users money, hours of travel and waiting room boredom. Wrench is a privately held company headquartered in Seattle, WA with investments from major venture capitalists, including Madrona Venture Group, Vulcan Capital and Tenaya Capital and Marubeni Corporation. To learn more, please visit: www.wrench.com
