Management School graduate Andrew Jervis has raised £320,000 for his start-up ClickMechanic, from angel investors led by former Just Eat CEO Klaus Nyengaard.
The investment will be used to fuel the company’s growth, expand the team and accelerate product innovation.
ClickMechanic is an online marketplace for car repair, allowing users to book a vetted mechanic who will come to their home or workplace. It also has an automatic quoting system to help users know if they are being offered a competitive price.
Andrew Jervis co-founded the company with his friend Felix Kenton in 2012. Since then ClickMechanic has been used over 150,000 times for car service and repair quotes, and has seen rapid growth from early 2014.
Andrew graduated from Lancaster University in 2006 with a degree in Organisation, Work and Technology (OWT).
Speaking about his time at Lancaster, he said: “Lancaster University Management School was the perfect environment to prepare me for starting a business. The teaching quality and facilities were first class. It gave enough flexibility to explore our own ideas, but most importantly my specific course gave me a mind-set that anything was possible.
“Often students feel they have to follow the standard course of graduating and climbing the corporate ladder but OWT was different. It gave me the perspective that there is no right or wrong way to do things, which helped me towards my goal of building a business.”
Klaus Nyengaard, the former CEO of Just Eat and current Chairman of Wahanda, said: “I work a lot with marketplaces, and I was immediately impressed with the smartness of how ClickMechanic works. They are a young team with lots of drive and a new way of matching supply and demand in the mechanics industry. Exactly the kind of ambitious project I like to work with.”
This latest investment comes after Andrew and Felix secured an initial investment of £90,000 in 2012.
Other angel investors include:
- Rasmus Wolff – Former CCO of Just Eat and CCO of GetYourGuide
- Giorgio Ponticelli – Former Group Business Development Director of Just Eat and MD of New Markets at Wahanda
- Lopo Champalimaud – Founder and CEO of Wahanda
- Simon Lambert – CTO of Wahanda
- Chris Wood – CCO of Wahanda
- Leigh Phillipson – Sales Director of Wahanda
- Simon Schnieders – Former Head of SEO at Zoopla
- Andy Wilson – Former Head of Growth of GetYourGuide
- Ian Hooper – Former Vice President of Seamless