Moving cars on journeys that waste time and do not add much value, such as going to the workshop, to pass the ITV (vehicle inspection), or to wash it. These are the types of trips that Cafler wants to cover. Its founders, Ricard Guillem and Iñigo Diego, believe that their proposal responds to an unmet need in the automotive sector, which can appeal to both companies and end-users.
This startup, which has just been born in Barcelona, has closed its first round, for 800,000 euros, exceeding the initial figure they had set of 200,000 euros. The resources obtained have allowed it to launch its online platform and start invoicing. BStartup by Banco Sabadell, Encomenda, Cathay Innovation, and the entrepreneur Dídac Lee have been some of its first investors.
Cafler has started operating in Barcelona and Madrid, focusing on covering the service of going to pass the ITV, with a displacement price of about 10 euros, to which the cost of passing it must be added. For now, it is offering it through its website to about fifty professional clients, ranging from small workshops and dealerships to workshop chains like the French Feu Vert and certifiers like the German Tüv Süd. The forecast is to incorporate new services in the coming months.
Likewise, the startup wants to attract more users and open new cities during this first year, with the forecast of reaching up to 1 million euros in revenue. Before the end of the year and to continue growing, they expect to close another round. They also do not rule out expanding their services to other vehicles such as motorcycles, as well as reaching the end customer, once their product is sufficiently known.
The team of the startup dedicated to tasks such as platform development and management and sales stands at 20 employees. To this figure must be added the drivers who make the displacements, who exceed 30, with some of them hired as freelancers and others on staff.
Regarding the name, Guillem admits it's the result of an anecdote. Ten years ago, his father read in a newspaper that two-syllable domains were starting to run out and decided to buy one just in case. When his son decided to create his company, he found that he couldn't find any short link available for his website and asked his father for help, who gave him the one he had bought some time ago: www.cafler.com. Since it was "in English and sounded like a startup," Guillem and Diego decided to adopt it for their business idea.