Automotive startup Okayker raises $700,000 in seed funding

KARACHI: Pakistan's automotive repairing and maintenance startup, Okayker, has secured $700,000 in seed funding from multiple institutional investors, including Orbit Startups, Cur8 Capital, FRIM Ventures, and Sabr Capital. The funding will be used to expand Okayker’s operations across Pakistan, launching the first automotive emergency service through their network of workshops, the startup said in a statement on Thursday.

“Okayker is currently working on partnering with lubricant brands and has recently signed an MoU with Mobil to help counter the prevalent problem of counterfeit products in the market.” Okayker, a Karachi-based startup, was incubated through the National Incubation Center in January 2023. In January 2021, Nashit, Hasnain Akber, and Asjad Amin started Okayker before being joined by Anusha Shahid.

“We are on a mission to digitize the $90 billion automotive repair and maintenance industry of the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan (MENAP) region,” said the company. It aims to save the time of customers who would "otherwise have to waste their hours at the workshop with an impending fear of getting scammed by the technician." According to the firm, it has fixed more than 10,000 cars in the last 26 months (starting March 2021 when it became fully operational). Now it has over 250 vendors and a network of 850 workshops in Karachi.

“We believe that enabling workshops and retailers is the only way to provide convenience and quality care to these vehicle owners,” the statement said. “Therefore, we are building an end-to-end platform for the $90 billion ecosystem in the MENAP region, comprising a mobile application for placing an appointment for customers.”