When great is never good enough, one can only continue to better themselves by innovating a company and industry as quickly as possible. That’s a motto the team at Serv holds dear to their hearts.
Since our last interview 3 years ago, the company has been embracing competition to innovate faster, even thanking other players in the market for helping educate the public about the industry’s goals of innovating the local automotive sector. Vulcan Post caught up with its founder, Arief Imran, to find out what else they have in store for Serv.
Serv already had a few other servicing apps to compete with from the start. It differentiated itself by launching their Digital Vehicle Ownership concept to the market. It means is that everything you need to know as a vehicle owner is consolidated into one app, phasing out the need to keep messy paperwork for both the app’s users and merchants. This includes information about your vehicle’s service records, breakdown assistances, battery replacements, insurance, and road tax details with renewals available at your fingertips.
Their latest feature, Drive-In, helped Serv acquire 200 merchants during the peak of MCO in June 2020. It allows customers to essentially book appointments with nearby workshops to schedule for services and repairs through the app. Instead of getting mechanics to travel to their clients’ location, the clients will come to their workshops instead.
Though not a new concept in the market, it’s an addition to its earlier version and a solution in digitizing the operational processes for workshops. This was what helped convince the merchants to get on board, as the online payment transactions could reduce physical contact between both parties. As of late, Serv has acquired over 11,000 users with a 76% activation rate, with most users being prone to sharing about their services with friends.
Serv merely started as an idea in late 2016 when Imran began renting in a co-working space to gain access to MaGIC Online Academy’s programs. As a founder, it was important for him to acquire MaGIC’s support, seeing the value in how it would benefit his startup to learn more about the industry and its future.
Throughout the many years of Serv’s involvement with MaGIC, they’ve received immense support towards the development of the company. The team had the opportunity to join a wide variety programs such as Grill N Chill, the MA Symposium, and their Global Accelerator Program (GAP). Participating in GAP accelerated his knowledge in a plethora of subjects. They include product development, managing teams, marketing, partnerships, finances, investments, and pitching.
Meanwhile, MaGIC’s pitching event Grill N Chill helped Imran rope in some of the early adopters he needed when Serv was finally launched. He was able to mingle with many local and international founders who helped in solidifying the overall concept of Serv, giving us the version that we know today.
Fundraising targets
Despite a lack of fundraising, Imran said that Serv has been consistently growing over the past 3 years and believes that there’s no time like the present to achieve more. They’ve recently opened up for investments targeting a maximum of USD 1 million, with half of the amount to be raised over pitchIN.
With the funds, the team aims to become the number one vehicle super app in Southeast Asia. In the meantime, smaller sub-goals have been set by first aiming to acquire 2,000 merchants in Malaysia by 2021. The company also plans to expand to other countries around the region. In addition, Serv will further diversify its services by adding more options for vehicle care including car washes, tire maintenance, air conditioning services, and others.
As for their Digital Vehicle Ownership feature, Serv plans to focus on aspects such as vehicle care, legal matters, and vehicle protection. It will also be expanding its value propositions beyond maintenance at the same time.