Welch-backed tyre firm to raise funds this year

A top name in India’s fastgrowing online tyre retail market backed by Blackcircles.com founder Mike Welch is set to raise funds in 2018 from local and UK investors.

The move comes as the venture, led by former Siemens Healthcare engineering executive Sanjeev Agrawal, aims to reach the top spot in one of the largest developing tyre markets.

It is seeking to harness factors such as strong project- ed growth for India’s overall economy, and domestic vehicle ownership growing by about 7 per cent a year.

Tyremarket.com also operates a “lean” business model similar to Blackcircles.com, which was sold to Michelin in 2015. Welch, strategic adviser to Tyremarket.com, said it “has a fantastic opportunity to be the market-leader for tyres in India”. Full Circle Partners, a corporate advisory firm with offices in Edinburgh and Singapore, is advising the Tyremarket.com board on the funding round.