A used engine buying and selling platform born in 2019, Minautor has already become well known all over the country. The goal now is to build up its own inventory and expand internationally.
Minautor can offer used engine from more than 4000 references. © Minautor
The engine is already running at full capacity. A little over three years after its inception, Minautor is already well established and does not intend to slow down. This platform dedicated to used engines was born in the minds of the four founders of the holding company Minerva Investments Group, which owns Minautor 100%, at the end of the summer of 2019. From the next month in October, the machine is launched.
“We started the adventure with personal money, which we were looking forward to investing. That was enough to validate the idea and attackexplains Omar Khadduri, President and Co-Founder of Minautor. In the automotive segment we have seen a sector where we can apply our knowledge, being all four financiers with five to 15 years of experience. It is a large market, with little transparency and not necessarily regulated. We want to increase liquidity, provide clarity to the end customer price, and manage the value chain from the ground up.“
More than 4,000 references
Omar Khadduri, co-founder of Minautor. © Minautor
Therefore, Minautor is a platform for buying and selling used engines, primarily intended for professionals, but also for individuals. The startup fulfills a need:In the microcosm of French junkyards, there are mostly French cars. When you have a Scandinavian or German type car, it is difficult to find a replacement engineOmar Khadduri argues. When a mechanic receives a customer with a broken engine, it sometimes takes two months to find the right replacement. We want to be the starting point for this problem.“
The platform claims to be able to give the customer an estimate from 4,000 used engine references. For this, it works with about fifty partners. These suppliers from the four corners of Europe (France, Spain, Germany, Nordic countries, etc.) are vetted before collaborating with the startup.
Minautor works using an algorithm that selects the best supplier based on customer demand. “If he wanted an engine with very low miles, our algorithm would go for that type of engine, which isn’t necessarily the cheapest. But if the customer wants a cheaper price, we adjust to itexplains the founder.
In addition, the company has access to its partners’ inventory, to see if the engine is available upon request. Once an order is submitted, it is received within seven to nine business days, depending on the sender. If it is French, the period is reduced to three days. Minautor guarantees order follow-up and after-sales service. All used engines dispatched go through a battery of tests to check their quality and are guaranteed for a period of six to twelve months.
Access to 2000 drivers used
In addition to its partner suppliers, Minautor has its own inventory of 300 engines, which it aims to expand. In fact, the startup carried out, in October 2022, a fundraiser of 4 million euros. This will particularly help it reach 2,000 used engines by itself by 2024.”This will allow us to send orders to customers more quickly. Our algorithm tells us which drives are most in demand, to select the best ones to stockComments Omar Al-Khadouri.
Currently, the latter is the sole director of Minautor, the other three founders working on other businesses. Around it, a team of about fifteen people has been formed: sales representatives, a technical team responsible for platform development and data analysis to optimize inventory purchases, or even a multilingual after-sales service center (French, Spanish and Portuguese).
Every day, Minautor sends out 10,000 quotes, compared to just 1,500 in the fall of 2022.”Since our beginnings, the market response has been good, and we have had a lot of orders. And the numbers continue to growThe founder rejoices. Sales are also necessarily increasing but, for now, the company prefers not to communicate, offering only 250 monthly sales a few months ago.
Minautor hopes to quickly build up its own inventory of 2,000 used engines. © Minautor
Either way, growth continues. Having achieved 2.3 million euros in turnover in 2021, Minautor closed 2022 at nearly 4 million euros. The numbers track the popularity of the platform, that “Most mechanics already knowaccording to its chief. And he continues: “We have built this reputation on our work. Major players in the sector saw it, and we knew we were helping make this market more resilient. So we received a warm welcome. When you bring added value, people are not closed off working with you. “
Minautor is already in seven countries…and soon more?
Minautor is now aiming to expand its offering. The fundraising will also allow it to diversify by offering gearboxes and other types of engines beyond current passenger cars and light commercial vehicles: trucks, buses, construction or agricultural machinery. At the beginning of 2023, an employee is hired to implement these new products at the Minautor show.
But the expansion of the platform will also be geographical. It is already present in France, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Belgium. Italy and Germany will be added to the list soon. But Omar Khadduri doesn’t intend to stop there: “I have an ambition to hatch a Minotaur on other continentsHe says. Certain types of engines located in Asia or the Middle East make it possible to meet the demand in Europe, and vice versa. So this is possible, but we have our work here already. So I don’t make a schedule for us.“
Finally, for individuals, Minautor has just signed a partnership with another startup: Younited. Very soon instant credit will be dissolved for the general public. “Having to change their engine is usually sudden, and the individual does not necessarily have the funds to recoup the expense. With this financing solution, it starts paying on D + 30 after receiving the mover, in monthly installments. This is another lever we bring to make things easierOmar Khadduri concludes.