Mexican startup Pitz officially arrived in Brazil with the proposal to digitize mechanical workshops using artificial intelligence. Founded by former executive Natália Salcedo, the company wants to become a kind of “operating system” for automotive workshops, bringing together diagnosis, management, parts marketplace and logistics on a single platform.
The Brazilian operation officially began in October last year and, at this point, is concentrated in the metropolitan region of São Paulo. The startup serves workshops in the capital of São Paulo, ABC, Guarulhos, Osasco and Jundiaí. In total, there are 13 employees in Brazil and around 20 people in the Mexican team.
Arriving in the country is part of the company’s expansion strategy, which was born in Mexico and sees Brazil as one of the most important – and most challenging – markets in Latin America. “Brazil has a very different geographic and cultural complexity”, says Natália, in an interview with Startups. “If we can make this product work here, we can make it work anywhere in the world.”
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The movement was driven by a US$2.1 million round announced about seven months ago. The investment was made by global funds such as Hustle Fund, Marathon Ventures, 500 Startups and Cracks Fund, as well as angel investors linked to motorsport, including names from Formula 1.
According to the executive, new rounds are on the radar, although details about values, investors and timing remain under lock and key. Between laughter and carefully contained responses, Natália preferred not to go into the subject, but let slip “you will know soon”, suggesting that news could be announced in the coming weeks.
Building the product
Pitz’s thesis is to centralize operations that are normally spread across different systems. The startup combines management software, parts marketplace, logistics solutions, voice assistant and customer communication on a single platform.
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According to Natália, the problem in the automotive sector today is not only low digitalization, but also the fragmentation of tools used by workshops. “Often the mechanic needs to use one platform for customer management, another for invoices, another for finding parts and another for logistics. We do the end-to-end process”, he explains.
The startup serves everything from independent workshops to large automotive chains, as well as dealers and parts manufacturers. In total, there are more than 1,400 registered workshops and a catalog with more than 1 million automotive SKUs. By 2026, the goal is to exceed 8 thousand workshops connected to the platform and further expand the marketplace operation.
Artificial intelligence appears as a central piece of the startup’s strategy, with the aim of reducing vehicle diagnosis time and reducing repair errors. The platform uses a virtual assistant called João, created to talk directly to mechanics during the vehicle analysis process. The idea is to transform voice interactions into faster and more accurate diagnoses.
“The mechanic always has his hands full. So, for him, it’s much easier to just talk”, says the executive. “You talk to the system, make the diagnosis, find the parts and organize the entire process.”
In addition to diagnostics, the startup also works in the search and delivery of automotive parts. In Mexico, the company operates its own logistics after acquiring a local company in the sector. In Brazil, however, distribution is done through partners. Depending on the region, the company claims to be able to deliver parts in up to 90 minutes.
Towards internationalization
Before entrepreneurship, Natália worked in international operations at Rappi and Jokr (fast delivery startup that operates as Daki in Brazil) – experiences that influenced the way Pitz conducts its international expansion.
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According to the executive, one of the most common mistakes made by Latin American companies is trying to replicate models from one country to another without cultural adaptation. She recalls, for example, situations experienced at Rappi in which products were simply “copied” between markets without considering local habits. “You can’t arrive in another country thinking you already know how everything works,” he says.
Therefore, Pitz operates with local teams in each market. According to Natália, the entire Brazilian team is made up of professionals from the country, while the Mexican team also undergoes training in Portuguese to facilitate integration.
Now consolidated in the largest Latin American markets, the startup has already defined its next international target: the North American market. “It’s an even bigger and more complex market, but it’s a natural next step,” he says.
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Transforming the ecosystem
Solo founder of Pitz, Natália says that building a startup in Latin America also involves facing structural barriers in the technology ecosystem. According to the executive, only around 2% of global venture capital goes to women – and, when the group considers Latin women, this percentage approaches zero. For her, opening up space for other entrepreneurs in the region has become one of the company’s main motivations.
The initial inspiration to work in the sector came from Formula 1. Natália says that she began to become interested in the topic while watching the documentary about Ayrton Senna and was impressed by the driver’s ability to identify problems in the car just by the sound of the engine. From there, he began to investigate whether there was any technology capable of reproducing this type of diagnosis for ordinary mechanics – an idea that would later give rise to Pitz.
Choosing the automotive sector adds another layer to the challenge. Traditionally male, the workshop market still faces problems of trust and transparency in its relationship with consumers. Therefore, the startup wants to create a kind of reliability seal for partner workshops, in a model that Natália compares to Verisure’s positioning in the residential security market. The proposal is to use technology and standardization to increase the transparency of the services provided.
