Malaysia’s connected roadside assistance solution provider, Bateriku, has raised US$7.4 million (RM34.7 million) in its Series B funding round from KWAP, Gobi Partners, SBI Capital, and VentureTECH.
The Selangor-based firm will use the money to expand across Malaysia as well as Southeast Asia, with Indonesia and Singapore in the first phase.
“This investment will fuel our mission to transform roadside assistance and reshape the automotive ecosystem,” said CEO Azarol Faizi.
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Established in March 2014, Bateriku.com began as an on-demand car battery replacement service. The startup has now evolved into an ecosystem that connects car users with roadside assistance, trusted workshops, an auto parts marketplace, and ancillary services.
Bateriku.com’s extensive network includes nearly 200 Pitstop outlets across Malaysia and its first international outpost in South Jakarta, Indonesia. Its ecosystem comprises over 1,000 trained gig technicians (BHero), 78 entrepreneurs (BPreneur), and close to 3,000 workshop and auto part partners (BBuddy), all coordinated through a 24x7x365 contact centre that connects customers to the nearest service providers.
The firm employs 382 people and has built its ecosystem by training nearly 1,000 gig mobile technicians (BHeroes), developing 78 entrepreneurs (BPreneurs), and onboarding approximately 2,000 car workshops (BBuddies).
Bateriku provides centralised training to internal and external parties through Akademi Bateriku – a training institution endorsed by the Department of Skills Malaysia (JPK) and the National Dual Training System (SLDN) under the Ministry of Human Resources of Malaysia.
In 2022, the company launched Akademi Bateriku to provide reskilling and up-skilling programmes for automotive professionals within its ecosystem. To date, nearly 2,000 Malaysians have benefitted from this.
While the battery business remains at the heart of Bateriku.com’s operations, environmental sustainability is a core priority, says the company. Its’ Go Recon Save The World’ initiative focuses on reconditioning and recycling batteries, ensuring they are reused, repaired, or responsibly recycled. This initiative supports Bateriku.com’s nationwide warranty and after-sales programmes, with non-reconditionable batteries processed by licensed smelters approved by the Department of Environment (DOE).
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“To give some perspective, approximately 500,000 car batteries are being replaced every month in Malaysia, which indicates roughly 10,000 tonnes of used batteries are being disposed of each month. Bateriku.com collects slightly less than 1,000 used car batteries every month from our customers across the nation. It’s our responsibility and in our best interest that our customers are educated on the impact of properly used battery disposal on the environment, particularly through our ‘Go Recon Save The World’ initiative,” Faizi added.
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