AutoSahulat an online service for roadside vehicle breakdown has raised pre-seed funding of USD 100,000 from Singapore-based VC firm, Antler. The funding round was closed on September 5th, states Crunchbase.
AutoSahulat is a Pakistani startup that connects mechanics with drivers for road-side assistance through a mobile and web-based platform. The idea was conceived by two Telenor employees Mohsin Amjad and Ghazanfar Iqbal for the employee innovation program of the telecom company called, Ignite. The startup received a positive response and was selected to represent Telenor Pakistan at the global rounds of the competition with seven other teams that outshone amongst 106 startup ideas. The startup moved to a three-month incubator program to strengthen and develop their ideas.
During the incubation phase, the startup completed identified and validated the problem. Later moving on to initial user research, they mapped the customer journey to build a rapid prototype of the service offered by AutoSahulat to validate the solution. The startup received training and mentorship in Singapore, Thailand, and Norway from the international field experts.
After the completion of Ignite, both co-founders bid farewell to Telenor and kickstarted their entrepreneurial journey. The startup was also selected for a founders’ program run by Antler. In a boot camp, spanning two months, the co-founders rigorously refined the idea to address key problem areas. They later pitched their idea to Antler investment committee, becoming the first Pakistani startup to close a funding from the Singapore-based VC firm.
Amjad leads the startup as CEO while Iqbal is the CMO of AutoSahulat. Amjad has experience of over a decade working in Telenor Pakistan as a Channel Strategy and Systems Specialist. Meanwhile, Iqbal served at Telenor for two years as Areas Sale Head. Together they bring a diverse set of skillset and experience to build AutoSahulat into a nationwide. The startup is currently operational in Lahore, and plans to expand nationwide.
