How Partnr Is Bringing Technology to India's Local Garages
Across India, small neighbourhood garages quietly keep the country’s estimated 27 crore two-wheelers and 7 crore four-wheelers on the road. For budget-conscious vehicle owners, these local workshops offer a vital cost advantage over authorised service centres, which carry higher overheads and more expensive parts.
Yet the workshops themselves often operate under severe constraints. Many are single-mechanic operations tucked into narrow lanes in both metros and smaller towns. They struggle with fragmented supply chains, limited access to genuine spare parts, opaque pricing, thin margins, skill gaps, and almost no technology. For mechanics in Tier II and III cities, waiting for a critical part can mean shutting the shop for an entire day and losing customers.
Delhi-based startup Partnr, founded in 2024, is building a tech platform designed to solve these problems and turn local mechanics into more efficient, profitable businesses.
Spotting the Opportunity
India’s vehicle repair ecosystem involves manufacturers, distributors, retailers, mechanics, and vehicle owners. Among these players, mechanics face the sharpest challenges: unreliable inventory visibility, counterfeit products, limited demand-generation tools, and almost no access to working capital or modern training.
“Mechanics often lose hours running around for parts or risk losing customers when inventory is unavailable,” says Vishal Dubey, Founder and CEO of Partnr. “Many of these mechanics operate in outdated environments with little access to technology, training, or capital.”
Dubey brings 27 years of experience across telecom, ecommerce, and agritech. He began his career at Airtel in 1997 during its early growth phase, later worked at Idea Cellular, and then joined Amazon as Director of Mobile Business Development. He subsequently moved into the startup world with roles at ClearTax and nurture.farm.
“Working across telecom, ecommerce, and agritech taught me how technology can solve complex, large-scale problems,” he says. “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.”
A Mechanic-Centric Growth Platform
Partnr currently focuses on two-wheeler repair workshops and operates as a multi-sided platform that addresses both supply and demand challenges.
On the supply side, mechanics can order genuine spare parts through the Partnr app. Parts are delivered within two hours from hyperlocal dark stores, bypassing traditional multi-layered distribution and offering transparent pricing.
On the demand side, the company is developing tools to connect mechanics directly with vehicle owners. Service reminders, digital bookings, and targeted notifications are designed to drive steady customer flow into workshops.
Recognising that many mechanics lack access to formal credit, Partnr offers buy-now-pay-later facilities in partnership with an NBFC, along with other credit and insurance products.
Looking ahead, the startup plans to launch a Mechanic Academy focused on diagnostics, electric vehicle servicing, and advanced repair techniques to help close persistent skill gaps.
Since beginning operations in February 2024, Partnr has expanded rapidly. The bootstrapped company now operates in 33 cities, supported by 95 dark stores. More than 40,000 mechanics and workshops use the platform. Dubey claims annual revenue run rates have crossed Rs 150 crore, with continued growth in adoption. In cities where Partnr has launched, 20–30% of local mechanics are actively using the app.
The company places particular emphasis on mid-tier cities, building hyperlocal inventory hubs, standardising workflows, and supporting mechanics through training and tools.
Building Trust in a Fragmented Market
Counterfeit spare parts remain a major problem in India’s automotive aftermarket. Partnr tackles 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,” Dubey explains.
Technology underpins nearly every aspect of the operation from ensuring the correct part fits the correct vehicle to enabling digital ordering, payments, and inventory management. “Technology is the invisible mechanic in our business,” Dubey says. “It ensures the right part fits the right vehicle, keeps pricing transparent, and allows for on-demand doorstep delivery.”
One of the bigger hurdles has been behavioural rather than technical: persuading mechanics accustomed to offline transactions to adopt a digital platform. Intuitive design, trust-based onboarding, and features such as image-based search have helped thousands make the transition.
Market Opportunity and Roadmap
India’s two-wheeler aftermarket component market was valued at $890 million in 2024 and is projected to reach $1.4 billion by 2033, according to IMARC Group, growing at a CAGR of 4.5% between 2025 and 2033.
Partnr’s near-term plans include expanding into the four-wheeler aftermarket, launching its own private-label spare parts brand, and piloting direct-to-consumer doorstep servicing for bikes and cars. The company also intends to equip mechanics with data-driven insights to optimise inventory and operations. Over the next 12–24 months, it aims to scale to more than 50 cities and is open to external funding.
With a team of over 500 people, Partnr positions itself as having no direct competitors in its core model. While several ecommerce players sell parts directly to vehicle owners, few focus on serving mechanics as the primary customer.
“Our ambition is to make Partnr the go-to growth platform for every mechanic,” Dubey says. “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.”
In an economy where local garages remain essential to everyday mobility, Partnr is attempting to give those workshops the tools, parts, customers, and capital they have long lacked quietly modernising one of India’s most fragmented and vital service sectors.