Amsterdam-based Fixico closes €12M Series A to grow its digital car repair management platform

It was in 2014 that Derk Roodhuyzen de Vries accidentally scratched his mother’s car. He thought he would be able to find a good body repair shop online quickly. Fortunately, he couldn’t, because that’s how he came up with the idea to start Fixico – a digital car repair management platform. 

The very same year, he teamed up with Mark van Laar to start Fixico. The duo collaborated with certified body repair shops in and around Amsterdam to launch the Fixico app. Currently, the company is active in 6 countries, collaborates with over 2,500 certified body repair shops, and works with more than 150 partners ranging from local rentals to big internationals.

Fixico raises funding

And today, the Amsterdam-based startup had announced that it has raised €5M extension to its Series A round funding, closing the total at €12M. The round was led by Autotech Ventures. In addition, existing investor Finch Capital, and Madrid-based Mundi Ventures also participated in this round. 

It was back in June 2019 when the company had raised €7M in its Series A round which was led by Silicon Valley-based investor Autotech Ventures. With these funds, Fixico aims to increase its international footprint and further digitalise the car damage repair industry. To date, the company has raised €19.3M in total.

Use of the funds and further expansion

The raised capital will accelerate Fixico’s product development, strengthen its core markets’ footprint and help expand its services across Europe.

Derk Roodhuyzen de Vries, CEO & co-founder of Fixico, says, “Last year was a tough one for the car damage repair industry. But even amidst a global pandemic, Fixico grew 300 per cent. This Series A round extension gives us the firepower to continue our growth trajectory and become the European digital leader of the car damage repair industry.” 

“Next quarter, we’re launching in three more European countries: Italy, Austria, and Denmark. In all likelihood, we will add three to five countries to our expansion plans soon, with the UK and Spain at the top of our wishlist. We are thrilled to now have Mundi Ventures on board, as they bring knowledge of and access to a vast and cross-border insurance and mobility network,” he further adds. 

Redefining the car damage repair industry

The Dutch tech company aims to redefine the €120B car damage repair industry. According to the company, the repair process is time-consuming and inefficient, involving numerous calls, emails, and physical inspections in a one-size-fits-all procedure. However, Fixico believes as modern vehicles are becoming more advanced and complex to repair, their owners need a customised approach to find the right body repair shop.

The Dutch tech company aims to reshape the industry’s ecosystem by connecting drivers, businesses, and body repair shops.

Fixico offers a digital platform that handles car damage repairs for drivers, insurers, and fleet owners and enables smart ‘matchmaking’ between types of car damage and body repair shops. 

The company’s repair allocation process, allowing customers to quickly identify the most suitable body repair shop for the job while taking critical factors such as availability, expertise, and price into consideration.

According to the company, its services are currently operational in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany, and South Africa. It operates a network of 2,500 repair shops. 

Newly-appointed board member – Simon Rothman

Following the closing of the round, Simon Rothman will join the Fixico Supervisory board. 

Rothman is known as an early pioneer of online marketplaces and network effect businesses. He joined eBay when it was a small US collectables auction business and helped scale the company to nearly 200 million users, generating over $40B in annual sales. At eBay, Simon was the Founder of eBay Motors.

He is a long-time angel investor and venture capitalist with a passion for marketplaces and mobility. Simon served as an early-stage Board Director at Tesla, Cargurus, Convoy, and Nuro. Furthermore, he is an advisor of and/or angel investor in successful technology companies such as Lyft, Lime, Getaround, Aurora, Fiverr, and Poshmark.

Simon Rothman, comments, “During my past tenures at both eBay Motors and Tesla, I’ve personally become extremely passionate about marketplaces and mobility. It’s a unique opportunity to find such a compelling company as Fixico that sits at the intersection of a marketplace within the mobility sector. From my perspective, Fixico’s use of network dynamics to connect repair shops with vehicle owners has the potential to transform the car repair industry fundamentally.”