Mobile Tech RX, an Austin-based company that built a technology platform for paintless dent repair and automotive reconditioning businesses, is being acquired by Repairify Inc., a portfolio company of private equity firm Kinderhook Industries LLC. The acquisition by Kinderhook, which manages more than $3.3 billion in committed capital, was announced June 15. Financial terms were not disclosed.
More than 4,000 companies use Mobile Tech RX's platform, according to the announcement. The company, co-founded in 2014 by Daimen Simmons and CEO Eric Garves, was bootstrapped until 2019, when it secured a $4.2 million investment from Austin-based venture capital firm Silverton Partners. In November, Mobile Tech RX acquired Austin-based ClaimBot for an undisclosed price.
Garves said Mobile Tech RX and Repairify, which does business as asTech, initially had conversations about a partnership and integration that would add Mobile Tech RX's marketplace of detailers, dent repair and autobody businesses, as well as its mobile software for estimates, invoicing and workflow.
AsTech makes specialized scanning software that identifies codes in vehicles for repair and verifies to ensure all the errors created by an auto wreck have been fixed.
"They quickly realized that the idea of the marketplace that we were doing was in line with their vision as well," Garves said. "There were a lot of synergies between the two companies."
The deal represents the twelfth add-on acquisition for asTech, and it's Kinderhook's 112th automotive-related transaction.
The two companies haven't yet integrated their technologies, but they plan to do that within the next six months. That integration will expand software capabilities, as well as customer reach, for the auto repair businesses that use both companies' hardware and software.
While terms of the acquisition weren't disclosed, Garves said Mobile Tech RX has been generating over $5 million in revenue annually.
He said Mobile Tech RX currently has 25 employees and plans to hire 10 to 20 more within a year, mostly in engineering, marketing and sales. The company is offering competitive salaries, but Garves said it's the company's culture that plays the biggest role in retaining and attracting talent.
Garves will join the Repairify team as the CEO of Mobile Tech RX, and he said that there aren't any other significant changes in personnel as a result of the deal.
Silverton principal Roger Chen in 2019 described the origin story of Mobile Tech RX as "very impressive."
Garves and Simmons came up with the idea for Mobile Tech RX after growing frustrated with existing invoicing software while running a paintless dent repair company. The pair invested $60,000 into the software that would become Mobile Tech RX, tapping Albert Swantner to build the platform. Swantner quickly become a believer and dramatically reduced his rate in exchange for equity in the company, giving Mobile Tech RX enough time to break through to outside investors.
"I think it’s a rare thing these days," Chen said. "Most of the time it’s a bunch of young software guys trying to figure out which market they want to build a product in and sell into. Whereas these guys were technicians."
Morgan Flager, partner at Silverton, via email applauded Mobile Tech RX's growth, and he said the company had "multiple strategic parties" interested in a transaction.
"Anytime we invest in a company, our expectation is that we’re in it for the long haul," he wrote. "In just two years time, Mobile Tech RX tripled in size in both the number of technicians and revenue. While two years is short for us, when an exceptional offer comes along and makes it easier for the entrepreneur to accelerate their vision, we’re open minded. This was certainly one of those cases."
Garves said the co-founders had a vision to one day be acquired. But he said the startup's journey is far from over.
"We haven't yet created that marketplace that we've been talking about for the past few years, so we still have our work cut out," he said. "And there's still a ton of upside on the backside of this, as well. So there's definitely a sense of founder security to capitalize on some of the hard work. But we still have that excitement of things to come, as well."
