Automotive technology startup ServiceUp Inc. has closed on a hefty $55 million funding round as it accelerates its mission to try and revolutionize the way vehicle fleet operators and insurers conduct vehicle maintenance and repairs.

Today’s round was led by PeakSpan Capital and saw participation from existing investors Hearst Ventures, Trestle Partners, Capital Midwest Fund and Litquidity Ventures, and brings the startup’s total amount raised to date to $70 million.

ServiceUp was founded in 2021 and, at the time, it started out with a software platform that helps individual drivers to manage their vehicle repairs. Its business model was pretty simple: The driver schedules a repair, ServiceUp comes and picks it up, fixes it and returns it hassle-free.

Though they enjoyed some initial success, the company’s founders soon realized that there’s a much bigger opportunity to bring that same model to vehicle fleets and insurers, who need to carry out repairs at much larger scales. The founders came to realize that many of those companies are stuck using legacy software and outdated processes, and lack any real visibility into the health of their fleets and the status of repairs.

According to ServiceUp co-founder and Chief Executive Brett Carlson, managing the repair process is one of the most painful aspects of running a fleet of vehicles, and it’s a major headache for insurers too. The challenges arise from the fact they often have to rely on small repair shops that don’t provide updates, and if they do, those updates arrive in so many different ways and formats that the data becomes horribly scattered and difficult to understand.

ServiceUp sets out to change this by managing the entire repair process, from the time the vehicle is first picked up, until it’s returned to the owner or fleet operator. It claims to improve efficiency by improving coordination between repair shops and its customers, eliminating the need for manual follow-ups, while providing more transparency and visibility through its live repair tracking tools, with everything accessible via a centralized dashboard. It handles collision, maintenance and mechanical reports through a single system that’s designed to reduce delays by improving coordination between fleet managers and insurers and the repair companies they rely on.

The startup has created a couple of revenue streams. First, it charges a software-as-a-service fee for customers that use its SaaS platform, while those who access the managed version of ServiceUp are charged a service fee that covers “coordination, logistics and quality control.”

ServiceUp claims that it can reduce vehicle repair cycle times by more than 30% in some cases, ensuring vehicles fleets and car owners can get back on the road in the fastest possible time. “We’re not here to slightly improve vehicle repair management. We’re rebuilding it from the ground up,” Carlson said. “Every delay, every unknown, every wasted hour — we’re eliminating all of it with tech and automation.”

The company has experienced significant growth, with its revenue increasing by more than 180% in the last year, Carlson said. Although it is not currently generating a profit, the CEO said it should be by the end of 2026. Customers include the likes of car rental giant Zipcar Inc. and the vehicle insurance firm Clearcover Insurance Co.

The money from today’s round will be used to expand ServiceUp’s team, enter new markets in the U.S. and Canada and accelerate the development of a new SaaS service called Connect that will give customers self-service control over their repairs. According to ServiceUp, Connect will work by centralizing workflows across each customer’s existing shop network, and providing better coordination between them.

PeakSpan Capital Partner Jack Freeman said auto repair is one of the last major black boxes in the modern economy, plagued and bogged down by fragmented and opaque workflows.

“It’s a system that frustrates fleet operators, drains productivity and kills margin for insurers and service providers,” Freeman explained. “ServiceUp is dismantling that model. It has built the first truly intelligence-driven system of engagement for the automotive repair space.”

Image: ServiceUp