Tyremarket.com adds more muscle to its board by onboarding European magnate Michael Welch. The Bangalore-based startup aims for funding round.

Left to right are Blackcircles.com founder Michael Welch OBE and Sanjeev Agrawal, CEO of Tyremarket.com

Bangalore, India – Tyremarket.com, one of India’s leading online tyre portals, is all set to raise funds in 2018 with Michael Welch, founder of Blackcircles.com coming on board as a strategic adviser and shareholder. Full Circle Partners, a corporate advisory firm with offices in Edinburgh and Singapore, is advising Tyremarket.com for the funding round. The Bengaluru based startup is counting for the market-leading position in the domestic tyre replacement market, which is currently estimated at more than USD 5 billion.

Tyremarket.com has been awarded the accolade of India’s No.1 tyre portal in 2017 by Silicon India magazine. The company is led by Sanjeev Agrawal, former Siemens Healthcare engineering executive. The leading online tyre portal is all geared up to benefit from the projected growth of the Indian tyre industry along with an anticipated rise of around 7 percent in vehicle ownership per year, and the presently unorganised tyre replacement market.

Michael Welch OBE, strategic adviser to Tyremarket.com shared his thoughts, “Tyremarket.com has a fantastic opportunity to be the market leader for tyres in India. Its team, vision and ambition are second to none and I’m delighted to be able to help them in their goal to become India’s go-to resource for all things tyres.”

Sanjeev Agrawal, CEO and co-founder of Tyremarket.com said, “Indian consumers are becoming more value aware and better informed about their choices. Our strategy to provide more tyre choices, more installation partners and great value is starting to pay real dividends. With the help of our early investors, we have created an exciting platform from which we can invest wisely to ensure our position as the leading online platform for tyre business in India”.

Ernst & Young predicts that by 2020 there will be over 750 million internet users in India. The research conducted by the leading analytic firm also suggests that by 2020, 30% of all payments will be made online. Moreover, another market research firm PWC estimates that online spending will cross $125 billion mark by 2020. Currently, India ranks #2 in the world with respect to internet user base that counts around 400 million. The last couple of years saw the increase in the volume of active mobile internet users by a hefty margin; thanks to the decrease in the cost of smartphones and data plans.