The Pomen team with founder Syed Zulhilmi Tuan Sharif who is also CEO, second from left.
Being stuck in the middle of the road from a car breakdown is a nightmare that can throw a spanner in our hectic everyday life. Pomen Autodata Sdn Bhd (Pomen), which claims to be Malaysia’s leading automotive maintenance platform, offers 24/7 assistance for Malaysian drivers, connecting them to an ecosystem of registered workshops through its app.
The perfect solution to help book or make reservations with the nearest workshop, Pomen introduced the service in 2019. The app takes its name from the Bahasa Malaysia slang used for “foreman”. To date, the app has been downloaded over 25,000 times with an average growth increase of 10% per month.
Although the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting MCO brought a new set of challenges to businesses, Pomen sees the situation as a stepping stone to develop its business further. “We found that after the first MCO in March 2020, downloads of our app increased by 50%. Many car owners have taken the opportunity to perform services such as changing batteries and engine oil at home when the car is unutilised. With the POMEN app, they can easily make reservations with workshops at their own convenience. Convenience is the key as during the MCO, car owners seem to place both convenience and safety as their main priorities,” said Syed Zulhilmi Tuan Sharif, Pomen’s founder and CEO. Pomen Autodata is a Scaleup Malaysia company as well, from its recently announced second cohort. It received US$60,800 (RM250,000) funding.
In another boost to the startup, Pomen’s latest update featured its collaboration with Petronas Lubricants Marketing Malaysia. This version includes the nine Klang Valley branches of Petronas AutoExpert workshops that are listed in the app’s directory of authorised workshops and are available for all POMEN members and users. While all users have to register their details to use the app, members need to register their car details as well. This helps Pomen monitor for fraud and unfair pricing.
To date, there are more than 600 workshops registered in the app located around the Klang Valley, Johor, Penang, as well as in other major cities. Among the services offered include vehicle service, battery replacement or jump-start, tire replacement as well as repairing damage from accidents. In addition, the app has features such as real-time tracking services and transparent pricing. Users also enjoy free membership from the app to prevent any incidents of fraud by unauthorised workshops.
Pomen is a recipient of a US$121,500 (RM500,000) CIP Ignite (II) grant from Cradle and one of the winners of the Petronas FutureTech Accelerator Program that was selected from the Silicon Valley Immersion Program. The app can be downloaded on the Google Play Store platform or the Apple App Store or can be accessed directly at https://download.pomenapp.com.
Original article : https://www.digitalnewsasia.com/startups/auto-maintenance-app-pomen-clocks-over-25000-downloads
