Kiwi Auto Parts Startup Part Banks Register $NZ37 Million Series A
Aotearoa data startup Partly, making it easier to find car parts, has raised NZ$37 million (A$34 million) in a Series A.
It is a national record for a Series A and follows a pre-Series A of NZ$3.7 million in October 2021.
The final round was led by Europe’s VC Octopus Ventures, featuring Blackbird’s Kiwi wing for the third time. Other Series A investors include Square Peg, Shasta Ventures, Ten13, Square co-founder Randy Redigg, Hillfarrance, Icehouse and I2BF.
Partly will use the investment to continue its global growth and double its workforce over the next 12 months. The company now operates in New Zealand, Australia and Europe. The global team consists of 42 data scientists, engineers and automotive veterans who have built algorithms that can find the right parts for a car based on its license plate. The startup now processes NZ$150 million in orders annually.
CEO Levi Fawcett, a former Rocket Lab engineer, said Partly’s customer list includes multiple Fortune 500 companies, representing the world’s largest retail markets, automakers and parts manufacturers, and that they are addressing one of the biggest challenges in the parts industry.
“The early onset team we built has been key to our success to date, and we use cutting-edge technology like Rust, Kafka and ScyllaDB to manage millions of changes per minute from thousands of data sources. We have a large customer backlog and prioritize key customers, especially in Europe,” he said.
“We are looking for the world’s leading software engineers who are passionate about solving tough problems. We have a truly exceptional team in Australasia and Europe, and currently we’re only taking on about 1 per cent of applicants, so the bar is incredibly high.”
Octopus Ventures investor Matt Chandler said they were “incredibly excited” about the impact this company is already having on the global auto industry.
“Partly addresses a uniquely complex big data problem that is resulting in vastly improved outcomes for consumers. Since the company launched, the team has grown from strength to strength with deep technical experience from the likes of Amazon, eBay and Rocket Lab,” he said.
