The global car parts market is a complex ecosystem. Buyers often struggle to find the precise components needed for specific vehicles, leading to delays and inefficiencies. This supply-constrained environment is exactly what New Zealand-based startup, Partly, is aiming to solve. However, Partly isn’t building just another car parts marketplace. Instead, this innovative company is providing the crucial infrastructure to power existing marketplaces, connecting car parts buyers around the world with the right parts, precisely when they need them.
Partly, a startup established two years ago, operates behind the scenes, enhancing major platforms like eBay and Shopify. Their strength lies in their comprehensive database, a vast repository of over 50 million parts sourced from more than 20,000 suppliers and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). This powerful database is the engine that drives Partly’s mission to streamline the often-convoluted process of car part procurement.
“Our core technology is designed to work directly with suppliers,” explains co-founder and CEO Levi Fawcett. “We ingest, structure, and standardize all of their parts data.” This meticulous data management is key to Partly’s value proposition. By taking on the heavy lifting of organizing and normalizing disparate parts information, Partly enables major online platforms to offer a seamless and accurate car parts search and purchasing experience. The structured data is then channeled back into these large platforms, making it easier for buyers to find exactly what they require.
This innovative approach has attracted significant investor interest. Partly recently secured $21 million in a Series A funding round. These funds are earmarked for strategic expansion, particularly within Europe, where Partly already has a strong customer base. Beyond established marketplaces like eBay, Partly’s clientele includes organizations like the United Nations and several Fortune 500 companies (currently unnamed). Looking ahead, a significant portion of the new funding will fuel aggressive growth in the U.S. market, including establishing a physical office and expanding their team there. Critically, a large portion of the investment will be directed towards doubling Partly’s engineering team. This expansion is essential to tackle the core technical challenge: accurately identifying every component of a vehicle based solely on its license plate.
“It sounds simple on the surface, but deciphering the nuances of vehicle identification to pinpoint exact parts is an incredibly complex problem,” Fawcett elaborates. He anticipates Partly’s team, currently at 50, will grow to over 100 by the end of the following year to address this challenge effectively.
Beyond business growth, Partly harbors a broader ambition: to represent New Zealand on the global tech stage. With a prestigious client roster and a unique market position, free from direct competitors, Partly aims to become the largest New Zealand-based tech company within the next five years. This is an ambitious goal, requiring them to surpass established giants like Xero, which is publicly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and boasts a substantial market capitalization.
Fawcett, who previously honed his skills in hardware simulations at Rocket Lab, recognizes the immense potential in simplifying car part sourcing. He emphasizes the sheer scale of the market opportunity. In the U.S. alone, consumers spent nearly $95.4 billion on motor vehicle parts and accessories in 2021. Projections for the global automotive parts and accessories market estimate a staggering $2.5 trillion valuation by 2024.
Fawcett highlights the inefficiencies of the current car parts ordering process. “Approximately 98% of parts orders today are still processed via phone by a parts interpreter,” he states. These interpreters act as human intermediaries, tasked with understanding customer needs, navigating complex parts catalogs, identifying vehicle specifics, and ensuring part compatibility – a process prone to error and delays. “Partly is fundamentally changing this archaic system,” Fawcett asserts. “Instead of relying on human interpretation, our system allows users to simply input their license plate and directly select the part they need.” This streamlined, digital approach eliminates significant human intervention, reducing errors and accelerating the entire procurement process.
The complexity of the problem lies in the vast and fragmented nature of the automotive industry. Successfully building a comprehensive parts database requires collaboration across vehicle manufacturers, aftermarket parts producers, and retailers. Creating a standardized “common language” to ensure data consistency across all these sources is a monumental undertaking. Partly’s solution not only benefits buyers but also provides valuable insights for sellers, enabling them to better understand customer demand and optimize their inventory.
Partly’s technology is even being deployed for large-scale logistical operations. “We power the World Food Programme of the United Nations, which operates one of the world’s largest vehicle fleets,” Fawcett reveals. For organizations with massive, decentralized fleets like the UN, managing parts procurement is incredibly challenging. Partly’s system centralizes data, enabling efficient parts ordering, volume discount negotiation, and accurate part identification across diverse vehicle types. This B2B focus is a strategic element of Partly’s growth strategy.
Rob Coneybeer, managing director and co-founder of Shasta Ventures, a participant in Partly’s Series A funding, underscores the investment rationale. Shasta Ventures prioritizes “huge markets with compelling founders addressing significant consumer problems.” He emphasizes the “broken $500 billion aftermarket auto parts market” as a prime opportunity. Coneybeer believes Partly’s solution significantly improves the parts discovery process, leading to “higher marketplace conversion, lower returns, and far happier customers.” He notes the years of complex engineering underpinning Partly’s technology, enabling rapid scaling from processing $150 million in annual orders to potentially billions.
Partly’s Series A funding round was spearheaded by Octopus Ventures, with participation from Shasta, Square Peg, Blackbird, Ten13, Square co-founder Randy Reddig, Hillfarrance, and I2BF. Existing investors including Figma CEO Dylan Field, Notion co-founder Akshay Kothari, and Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck also contributed. This strong investor backing underscores the industry’s confidence in Partly’s vision and its potential to revolutionize the global car parts market, all while putting New Zealand innovation on the map.
