Car Leasing Startup PumPumPum Raised INR 5.5 Cr in Pre-Series A Funding by Inflection Point Ventures

PumPumPum, India’s only startup to offer ‘Used Car Leasing’ in corporate and retail segment has secured Rs 5.5 crore Pre-Series A funding led by Inflection Point Ventures. Other investors Lets Venture & Agility Ventures also participated in the funding round. PumPumPum plans to utilise the capital for category disruption, consumer awareness, technology development, brand building and expansion.

Average ownership of firsthand used cars in India is approximately 24-30 months and is dramatically decreasing. As compared to buying and maintaining a car for 24 months, a leased car for 24 months turns out to be extremely affordable and hassle free. In its endeavor to empower smart car ownership for Indian millennial by providing ‘cars as a service’ and ensuring safety, affordability, flexibility & minimised liabilities, PumPumPum was conceptualized by Tarun Lawadia and Sameer Kalra. Tarun Lawadia, Founder of PumPumPum, is an innovator and a serial entrepreneur with few successful startups such as Pluss App (sold to Netmeds) in his portfolio. Sameer Kalra, Co-Founder & Chief Growth Officer of PumPumPum, is a veteran in Automobile Leasing with over 20 years of experience. PumPumPum is seamlessly taking care of all the used car owner’s risks such as repair, maintenance, tyres, batteries, car resale value, insurance etc, thus ensuring a safe and comfortable travel with hassle free ownership.

Vinay Bansal, Founder & CEO, IPV says, “In the 90s, owning a car was considered a big deal, but with growing disposable income of millennials, buying a car is now matter of convenience and changing them every 3 years seems to be the norm. The new age workforce mantra is to lease assets like house, consumer durables and even cars so that it keeps them detached and mobile when changing jobs or home base. This is the new customer segment that PumPumPum is aiming to capture and we believe its potential will explore in the coming 5 years.”

Talking about the company plans to utilize the funds, Tarun Lawadia, Founder & CEO, PumPumPum says, “Car leasing and subscription is fast catching pace in the country and has a great future ahead. To take this niche category to newer heights, we are consistently expanding our reach along with tech disruption and high decibel consumer awareness. We are committed

to offer a hassle-free smart car experience with zero down-payments, zero maintenance charges and zero insurance premiums. Ranging from monthly subscriptions of Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh, PumPumPum car subscriptions are dynamic based on duration of subscription. We are confident that the capital infusion will help us in category disruption and strengthen our product development, marketing and expansion plans.”

In a short span of time, PumPumPum has established a robust network of associates and partners. The startup has strategic tie-ups with financial Partners such as ICICI Bank, IDFC Bank, Canara Bank & Kogta Finance; strategic sourcing partners such as Cars24, OLX, Avis, SMAS, LeasePlan, VW Das Wels Auto, Renault Select and corporate tie-ups with Xceedance, Snapdeal, People Strong, Bira, Ashiana Group and Chaayos.

Addressing the rising trend of Used Car leasing in the country, Sameer Kalra, Co-Founder & Chief Growth Officer says, “Realising the fact that leasing by nature has the ability to solve the entire ownership related issues, we are the only company in the Used Car Leasing space to provide a car with a white number plate ensuring a sense of pride and security for our customers. PumPumPum is committed to address and solve issues related to lack of trust on dealers, low penetration of financing in used car space, risk of repairs in a used car, non-transparent pricing (lack of standard price parameters), low resale value of the third hand used car resulting in high rate of depreciation. Our unique business model offers an ownership aimed at effectively solving all consumer issues, right from pricing to quality and flexibility. We have aggressive plans to reach out to over 15 cities in the next 3 years as we are witnessing a huge demand for used car leasing from metros as well as non-metros markets.”

The company is riding on technologies such as IoT to deliver seamless, safe and exceptional experience to users. All the cars are IoT enabled cars (OBD device), which captures customer driving behaviour & car health parameters. IoT enabled cars add smart features to economical cars, which are easily accessible by the user through the PumPumPum app. The company is applying machine learning to reduce maintenance cost by taking a preventive course with the help of data received through IOT. Real-time credit check allows the user to get rid of lengthy banking and loan process along with a lot of paper trail.