Karooooo Stock

Karooooo Ltd., through its subsidiary, Cartrack Holdings Limited (Cartrack), provides real-time mobility data analytics solutions for smart transportation.

The company offers a full-stack smart mobility software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for connected vehicles and other assets; and provides customers with differentiated insights and analytics to optimize their business and workforce, increase efficiency, improve safety, monitor environmental impact, assist with regulatory compliance and manage risk.

The company owns and controls almost every aspect of its smart device design, platform innovation and software application development, client acquisition and onboarding, customer service and the management of its back-end support, it is able to move without any significant third-party dependencies and inefficiencies.

As of February 28, 2021, the company served customers in 23 countries across five continents, supported more than 1.3 million subscribers; and its platform serves major multinational enterprises and individual consumers alike, enabling it to address the global market. The company collects an average of over 50 billion data points per month and has maintained a consistent platform uptime of 99.9%.

The company’s proprietary SaaS platform acts as a central nervous system for connected vehicles and other mobile assets, such as construction equipment, generators, refrigeration units, trailers, and boats. The company’s platform collects, processes, and analyzes data via two-way communication with its proprietary hardware technology or third-party devices in each vehicle or other asset, providing its users with visibility into their fleets from a single, user friendly interface with reporting and tracking capabilities that deliver actionable insights in real-time. Its intuitive web-based applications provide a comprehensive set of software features for managing fleets and related workforces without the need for customers to incur upfront information technology costs and include advanced functionality, such as real-time video streaming.

The company provides customers with the flexibility to deploy its solutions across a range of vehicles, including electric vehicles, and other assets and to use its platform alone or in conjunction with the systems of original equipment manufacturer’s (OEM’s) and other third parties. The company empowers its customers, which range from consumers to large enterprise fleets, with actionable intelligence to enhance profitability, better serve their customers, and strengthen safety and security. The company defines customers at the enterprise or consumer level and subscribers as each vehicle or asset it services.

As part of a limited strategy to distribute its SaaS platform through independent business owners, the company’s solutions are sold through independent licensees in Botswana, Malawi, Rwanda, Eswatini, and Zimbabwe, who enter into franchise agreements and have exclusive geographic licenses to market and sell its solutions in exchange for royalty payments.

SaaS Platform

The company’s single platform offers a range of scalable mobile asset management and workforce optimization applications to address the needs of its diverse customer segments. The company offers a comprehensive set of software features for data analysis, mobile asset tracking, and oversight for managers to protect, connect, and report on every asset in a fleet.

The company’s platform is accessible to users via web interface and mobile applications, with services offered via monthly subscription. Its applications are integrated to avoid the need for multiple interfaces; and include free application programming interface integrations with enterprise resource planning systems.

The principal components of the company’s SaaS platform include the following:

Commercial Applications

Comprehensive Fleet Management SaaS Platform provides customers with real-time insight into their asset base through live tracking on a roadmap interface; using the company’s proprietary smart internet-of-things (IoT) devices that allow for vehicle integration and the use of peripheral sensors, all geared towards delivering real-time, accurate GPS positioning enabling location management, fuel management and fraud detection, maintenance management, eco-driving, vehicle utilization, time and attendance, and cold chain management; integration of real-time data into back office systems; detailed driver management with advanced scorecards to manage the risk and performance of drivers; and real-time alerts for maintenance and engine diagnostics.

LiveVision enables comprehensive pro-active risk management and fleet visibility via an artificial intelligence (AI) enabled two-camera video telematics system or a four-camera live streaming vehicle video system: The AI enabled camera delivers live warnings to proactively mitigate the risk of driver fatigue, driver distraction and collisions and includes the monitoring of safe driving distances; live on-board cameras enable video selection, replay, and analysis, enabling driver coaching and performance improvement; and increased driver visibility reduces driver liability, increases driver safety, and further empowers fleet control.

MiFleet Advanced Fleet Administration and Business Intelligence (BI) provides cost management and administration capabilities: provides insight into all asset-related costs, such as purchasing, fuel, fines, and insurance for each asset in a fleet; and provides actionable intelligence for driver optimization through BI.

Communicator is a software application enabling mobile device tracking and user management, creating integrated mobile communication capabilities, such as trace and locate drivers and mobile assets in real-time; drive workflows (stock control, invoicing, electronic proof-of-delivery, and mobile workforce management); up-to-date destinations and navigation integration, allowing drivers to spend more time focusing on job completion rather than finding a destination; quick communication to drivers via synchronized task list and built-in messaging systems; and business intelligence offers users a high-level view of fleet statistics, including analysis of key indicators and granular detail of asset-specific data.

Asset Tracking provides a way to track and trace moveable assets to reduce losses, automate inventory management, and improve workforce efficiency, equipment utilization, and regulatory compliance.

Asset Recovery: The company’s stolen vehicle recovery and asset recovery services assist vehicle owners and insurance companies with the recovery of vehicles and other assets that have been, or have been alleged to have been, stolen. This service includes around-the-clock assistance with real-time tracking, dedicated technical teams, early warning alert systems, ground and air recovery teams dedicated exclusively to Cartrack operating under local law licenses, specialized technologies for both Global System for Mobile Communications and radio frequency and repatriation assistance across international borders.

Insurance Telematics allows insurers to tailor premiums for commercial and consumer customers using analytics the company’s platform provides. This data also can be used to reconstruct accident scenes, making it efficient to evaluate claims and resulting in lower premiums.

Consumer Applications

Protector is an all-encompassing safety package for all consumer vehicles. Following the installation of the Cartrack telematics device, consumers can access a diverse set of software features and benefits, including a mobile application for real time movement management and communication; asset recovery; ambulance assist (facilitating emergency medical outreach and response); a limited asset recovery warranty pay out in the unlikely event of the vehicle not being recovered; a power event notification provides alerts upon vehicle battery disconnect; an ignition sensor remotely reads ignition status and detects improper use; and Crash Alert is a 24/7 monitoring system, which immediately triggers a dispatch for emergency services in response to a detected collision or accident.

Car Watch is a mobile application that lets users track and watch their vehicles from a distance. It includes alert notifications and the ability to sound an alarm remotely after unauthorized movements.

Insurance Telematics allows insurers to tailor premiums for commercial and consumer customers using analytics the company’s platform provides. This data also can be used to reconstruct accident scenes, making it efficient to evaluate claims and drive behavioral change resulting in safer drivers, reduced risk, and lower premiums.

Specialist Mobility Solutions

Bike Track, similar to its vehicle counterpart, is a GPS-based solution providing a comprehensive set of fleet management software features for commercial motorbike fleets. It includes a power management system that ensures bike batteries will not have to be discharged. Bike track is a version of the asset recovery package, with access to the same technology, asset recovery service, and emergency control room.

Credit Management predicts payment cycles and facilitate active credit management for asset-based vehicle finance, including accident reconstruction and driver behavior reporting for maintenance services and fraud detection. Real-time alarms and alerts are used to protect and secure assets.

Electronic Monitoring: In Singapore, the company provides an end-to-end electronic monitoring services application that allows law enforcement agencies to monitor persons of interest, such as offenders on extended supervision, parole, home detention, or community detention, including released prisoners in halfway care or who are in the process of being reintegrated into society.

Next-Generation Mobility Solutions

The company offers a range of additional mobility and monitoring solutions in select markets:

Carzuka: The company’s vehicle buying and selling marketplace in development will allow clients to source, buy, and sell vehicles. The company expects this marketplace to include vehicles sold by third parties, as well as vehicles purchased and reconditioned by it. Carzuka is in beta testing phase in South Africa, with a low volume of transactions as it continues to develop its business model and refine its processes. The company expects Carzuka to enter full operation by the end of 2021.

Cartrack Insurance Agency: The company’s insurtech multi-quote or aggregator platform offers its customers the ability to obtain an online quote from a panel of independent insurers at competitive rates or, if they choose, they can talk to a qualified consultant to advise on the appropriate insurance at the right price.

On-Demand Rideshare Taxi Application: The company has developed a rideshare application that is deployed in the United Arab Emirates, and has been developed for localization in multiple geographies.

Smart IoT

Customers deploy the company’s smart devices to collect real-time data from their vehicles and transmit this information to secure data centers for processing, which it manages via the Cartrack Private Cloud. The company’s platform components are designed to operate using a diverse array of communication technologies, including radio, satellite, and network protocols, such as Sigfox and LoRa. It designs, develops, and manufactures its devices and firmware in order to ensure their modularity and interoperability with its core subscription offering. In addition to sales of these devices to customers, the company offers customers the option of a SaaS-based subscription model with no up-front payment, reducing the capital investment required to access its solutions.

The company’s solutions are both flexible and relevant across all industries and fleet sizes, and has the capability to track other types of assets. Its devices can access and leverage CANBUS data, a system that enables communication between various parts of a vehicle, such as the engine control unit and airbags, which can be commercialized through collaborations with OEMs.

Strategy

The key elements of the company’s strategy are to increase subscription sales to existing customers; expand its customer base; expand its geographic presence worldwide; and expand its consumer platform and services.

Customers

The company divides its subscriber base into five categories across a range of industries, such as consumers and sole proprietors, small businesses, medium-sized businesses, major enterprises, and other connected devices. The company defines consumers and sole proprietors as individuals or business owners whose vehicles are used for personal and/or business use; and these customers typically have between one to five vehicles under subscription with it. The company defines small businesses as commercial customers with up to 24 vehicle subscriptions with it. The company defines medium-sized businesses as fleets with between 25 and 99 vehicle subscriptions with it and major enterprises as having fleets with 100 or more vehicle subscriptions with it.

Representative customers by segment are listed below:

South Africa: Anglo American De Beers Group, MAN Automotive South Africa, King Price Insurance, Avis Car Rental, The Courier Guy, SA Taxi Finance, Bridge Taxi Finance, Spartan Truck Hire, CAFO Motor Group, MultiChoice, SuperSport, and Toyota South Africa Motors (including Hino).

Africa: CAT/MANTRAC, Moove, Gemfields Group, Ryce Leasing, NCBA Kenya, and Toyota South Africa Motors (including Hino).

Europe: Central Cervejas e Bebidas, La Farge, Telefurgo, SONAE, MC Green, and Galaxy JMV.

The Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and the U.S.: Grab Rentals, Singapore Prison Service, Lion City Rentals, Asia Brewery Inc., Ley Choon Group, Orix, Lim Siang Huat, and GetGo.

Sales

In all regions, the company sells subscriptions of its solutions through its direct sales force. The company sells subscriptions to its SaaS fleet management platform through its direct sales organization. Maintaining direct control of its sales force allows the company to target individual consumers and sole proprietors, small to medium-sized businesses with local fleets, and major enterprise fleets.

The company has sales and marketing teams in each region using the following sales channels, depending on its customers’ needs and fleet sizes:

Inside Sales and Web Sales: The company sells via its internal teams to both consumers and commercial prospects. This is the company’s primary sales channel and a key component of its go-to-market strategy. Its sales agents conduct their selling activities telephonically, in some cases using live web demonstrations to convert sales leads to customers.

Field Sales: The company’s field sales team of relationship managers meet face-to-face with prospects and focuses on sales to small businesses, medium-sized businesses, and major enterprises. The field sales team is supported by a team of inside sales representatives.

In addition to the direct selling methods, the company’s field sales teams, with support from its inside sales team, work with automobile dealerships, insurance companies, and insurance brokers to generate channel based opportunities for it to acquire new customers.

Furthermore, both the inside sales teams and field sales teams focus on assisting customers that are adding devices through fleet expansion or broader use of additional applications or software features across their fleet.

Research and Development

The company’s research and development expenses were R100.1 million for the year ended February 28, 2021.

Competition

The company competes with Verizon Connect, WebFleet by Bridgestone, Masternaut (a Michelin Group Company), and Fleet Complete for commercial fleet management in Europe; it competes with Tracker, Netstar, MiX Telematics, and CTrack (sold by Inseego) for both consumers and commercial customers in South Africa; and it competes with a group of competitors in Asia and Africa.

History

Karooooo Ltd. was founded in 2001. The company was incorporated in 2018 in the Republic of Singapore.