Palo Alto-based mobile car servicing startup Yoshi is all set to launch in Boston, it's 15th city launch.
For those unfamiliar, Yoshi is an inductee of the coveted Silicon Valley accelerator Y Combinator. The startup provides on-the-move car maintenance services including vehicle refueling, car washes, oil changes or new windshield wiper blades and refilling tires. Yoshi charges a $20 subscription fee, plus the cost of regular or premium gas.
The company recently partnered with Firestone to check the air pressure on tires and refill them for free. CEO Nick Alexander explained that with Yoshi, users typically save about $240 annually on gas. Think about it as buying gas from a comparable but cheaper gas station, one that has fewer overhead costs, where the company is able to transfer the savings to the consumer.
Yoshi's biggest clients typically include large corporate offices, hospitals, and law firms. Basically, companies that have enough real estate to have large parking lots. And naturally, the majority of users avail of Yoshi's services through corporate benefit plans. Safety concerns deter the company from servicing street-parked cars.
Non-corporate or individual users must have a parking spot to use Yoshi. And that's why he says, "Most of our customers don't use the app like Uber." Yoshi is essentially a gas station on wheels, driving around the city with a large fuel tank. Safety concerns and regulations make it impossible for Yoshi to be an on-demand app.
"We are not an Uber for car washes," Alexander explained, "We come by as per schedule, service a whole parking lot. We are a routine service, and the user doesn't even have to know we were there."
The idea was conceived in Boston while co-founders Nick Alexander and Bryan Frist were both getting their MBA at Harvard Business School. Fun fact: Frist happens to be the son of former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.
So far, the three-year-old startup has raised close to $16 million in venture funding; Its last round of $13.7 million came from a round led by GM and Exxon Mobil and Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant. Thanks to this partnership, Exxon Mobile is also its fuel distributor in some cities including Boston.
Yoshi, which hires its technicians or drivers from a diverse pool of firefighters, veterans, and retired police offers, has high hopes from the Boston launch.
"The company was conceived in Boston, we still have many friends and a good network in the city," Alexander said. "And when winter comes, people will see the value add in a service like this."
As one can imagine, services like Yoshi have to have some necessary certifications and safety protocols in place. The startup has to get its fuel tanks (attached to trucks) verified by the Weights and Measures Authorities, just like any gas station would. Owing to processes like these, it typically takes the company a lot of foresight, paperwork and planning and over a couple of months to launch in a new city. Boston's soft launch took place a weeks ago before its official launch today.
