Digitising local garages: How Partnr is empowering India’s unorganised mechanics

Across India, small neighbourhood garages quietly keep the country’s estimated 27 crore two-wheelers and 7 crore four-wheelers moving. For a budget-conscious vehicle owner, local mechanics offer a much-needed cost reprieve on vehicle repair, as opposed to the more expensive authorised service centres that factor in higher overhead costs and expensive parts. 

These local workshops are often found in narrow lanes in both metros and small towns, manned by a single mechanic with modest tools and limited access to parts. However, despite being the backbone of India’s unorganised vehicle service economy, these workshops often face a fragmented market, find it difficult to source spare parts, and are slow to adopt technology.

Delhi-based startup Partnr aims to address these inefficiencies through its tech platform. 

Identifying the gap

India’s vehicle repair ecosystem includes manufacturers, distributors, retailers, mechanics, and vehicle owners. Among these, mechanics face the most acute challenges: fragmented supply chains, opaque pricing, limited inventory visibility, and minimal access to demand-generation channels. They also grapple with skill gaps, counterfeit products, and thin margins.

“Mechanics often lose hours running around for parts or risk losing customers when inventory is unavailable,” explains Vishal Dubey, Founder and CEO of Partnr. “Many of these mechanics operate in outdated environments with little access to technology, training, or capital.”

Moreover, local mechanics in mid-tier towns and cities find it challenging to access reliable spare parts and skilled resources. “For many mechanics in Tier II and III towns, waiting for parts used to mean closing their shop for a whole day,” notes Dubey, whose professional career spans 27 years, including telecom, ecommerce, and agritech. 

He started his career with Airtel in 1997, during its early startup phase, and later joined Idea Cellular. He transitioned to Amazon as Director of Mobile Business Development, and then entered the startup ecosystem with stints at ClearTax and nurture.farm. 

“Working across telecom, ecommerce, and agritech taught me how technology can solve complex, large-scale problems,” Dubey reflects. “For the past one-and-a-half years, I’ve been fully dedicated to Partnr, applying these insights to empower the backbone of India’s mobility—the mechanics.”

“Our goal is to build a platform that empowers them on both sides—procurement and demand—so they can focus on servicing vehicles efficiently and profitably,” he adds.

The Partnr model

Partnr offers several services as a mechanic-centric growth platform. It currently caters to local garages servicing two-wheelers.

• Supply side: It enables mechanics to order genuine spare parts via the Partnr app, delivered within two hours from hyperlocal dark stores, circumventing traditional distributors and ensuring transparent pricing.

• Demand side: The startup is also building a system to connect mechanics directly with vehicle owners. “Service reminders, digital bookings, and targeted notifications will drive more customers to workshops, helping mechanics generate steady revenue,” Dubey adds.

• Financial services: As many mechanics lack access to working capital, Partnr offers buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) facilities in partnership with an undisclosed NBFC, alongside credit and insurance products.

• Skill development: The startup plans to launch a Mechanic Academy to train professionals in diagnostics, electric vehicle servicing, and advanced repair techniques, in an effort to bridge skill gaps.

Since launching operations in February 2024, Partnr has grown rapidly. The bootstrapped startup operates in 33 cities, supported by 95 dark stores carrying a wide range of spare parts. 

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“Over 40,000 mechanics and workshops rely on the platform. Annual revenue run rates have crossed Rs 150 crore, and traction continues to grow as mechanics increasingly adopt the platform,” claims Dubey.

Partnr also places special focus on mid-tier cities, building hyperlocal inventory hubs, standardising workflows, and training mechanics.

“Wherever we’ve launched, 20–30% of mechanics in a city are actively using the app,” Dubey claims. 

Tackling counterfeits and building trust

Counterfeit spare parts are a persistent problem in India’s automotive aftermarket. Partnr addresses this by sourcing directly from authorised suppliers or private-label brands of automotive companies. 

“By controlling quality, we reduce dependence on fragmented supply chains and provide mechanics with reliable margins,” says Dubey.

Further, technology underpins Partnr’s operations—from ensuring precision-fit parts to enabling seamless digital ordering, payments, and inventory management. 

“Technology is the invisible mechanic in our business,” Dubey explains. “It ensures the right part fits the right vehicle, keeps pricing transparent, and allows for on-demand doorstep delivery.”

Market potential and future plans

India’s two-wheeler aftermarket component market size reached $890 million in 2024. IMARC Group expects the market to reach $1.4 billion by ​2033​, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 4.5% from ​2025 to 2033​.

Speaking of challenges, Dubey notes, “The bigger challenge, however, lay in changing behaviour—bringing mechanics used to offline transactions into a digital ecosystem. Through intuitive design, trust-based onboarding, and tools like image-based search, we are helping thousands of mechanics transition smoothly to the online world.”

Partnr’s roadmap includes expanding into the four-wheeler aftermarket and launching its own private-label spare parts brand. The company also plans to pilot direct-to-consumer doorstep servicing for bikes and cars, while equipping mechanics with data-driven insights to optimise inventory and service operations. Over the next 12–24 months, the startup aims to scale its presence to more than 50 cities across India. It also plans to look for external funding.

“Our ambition is to make Partnr the go-to growth platform for every mechanic,” Dubey shares. 

“By bridging gaps in supply, demand, trust, and skill, we aim to empower thousands of mechanics across India to run profitable, reliable, and modern workshops,” he adds.

With a team size of over 500 members, the startup claims that they have no direct competitors.

“There are many ecommerce players selling directly to bike owners but not to mechanics (which is our model),” says Dubey.