Manchester-based aftermarket technology specialists, Partful, has received £2.4 million in a round by Edinburgh-based Par Equity, with participation from US-based early-stage VC firm Blumberg Capital (which backed Wunder Mobility). With this round, the total investment raised by the company accounts for £6.2 million since the initial seed funding round in January 2022.
This latest investment will enable an expansion of the engineering team developing Partful’s innovative platform, which is supporting the manufacturing industry’s transition to the circular economy. The funding will also enable faster growth in the European and US markets and accelerate Partful’s adoption.
Graeme Gilbert, head of product at electric motorcycle manufacturer Maeving said: “I haven’t seen anyone else offering this level of product in this particular section of the market for a long time. Partful saves the product team and the engineers a lot of work.”
Sam Burgess, CEO and co-founder of Partful said: ‘”This funding is great news as it will help propel the development of our ‘exploding’ 3D parts platform and help us scale our growth by catering to a larger audience. We’re incredibly excited about unleashing the potential of this technology on a global scale. We are also expanding our commercial force to take our product to more U.S. and European clients. I’m thrilled to have partners on board who share that vision and want to make this a reality as soon as possible.”
Tom Croy, Investment Director at Par Equity noted: “We see the $400bn aftermarket as a realm full of untapped opportunities. The success of Partful’s platform, characterised by its impressive customer acquisition and revenue growth, serves to validate our conviction in the game changing potential of its innovative 3D parts platform. We are excited to support Partful’s journey, not just as investors but as staunch believers in their vision to revolutionise the industry and fuel a global shift in the aftermarket.’’
‘‘The Partful team continues to make an impact on clients’ after-sales engagement and parts revenue,” said Stanton Green, senior director at Blumberg Capital and Board Member of Partful. “The after-sales ecosystem is a massive global market, entrenched in legacy technology platforms and workflows. Partful’s 3D catalogues, detailed work instructions, and eCommerce capabilities will power the experiences that customers of market-leading brands have come to expect.”
Transforms manufacturing industry’s aftermarket
Developed by Manchester-based start-up SamsonVT, Partful was founded by Sam Burgess. The company provides an end-to-end product repair support platform that allows product customers to accurately identify, order and replace parts using interactive 3D explosion models.
Partful is a digital 3D interactive parts catalogue and work instructions support tool that enables users to identify product parts quickly and accurately using a 3D explosion view befiore placing orders directly with the manufacturer. The work instructions module also provides a step-by-step guide for product repairers, as well as on-the-job training to maintenance engineers. It is a highly accessible platform that can be viewed on digital devices anywhere and is available in 71 different languages.
Milestones achieved
The platform is helping global OEMs, such as Lotus, Norton and BAE Systems, to create user-friendly after-sales experiences that are helping to eradicate costly order errors, protect manufacturer revenues and limit product downtime, by enabling faster part fulfilment and repair.
Since early 2022, Partful has announced a string of new clients, which include three brands in the emerging electric vehicle sector – Maeving, GOVECS and Dragonfly Hyperscooter. The business has grown its revenues by more than 100% year on year and counts Lotus Cars, Norton Motorcycles and IDEX Corporation among its customer base.
To support a growing customer base, Partful also expanded its workforce by 95%, during this period, and made several key appointments. It has also opened new UK headquarters in Manchester and launched a European Centre of Technology in Warsaw.
