How Roo Capital Unleashed Steer’s Potential

From attracting top-tier talent to guiding the acquisition of AutoOps, here’s how we drove significant growth for Steer in less than 24 months.

Meet Steer

Steer’s origin story is the definition of “born from necessity.” In 2004, after searching the internet for a reliable mechanic to work on his car, Steer founder Parker Swift couldn’t find a repair shop that wasn’t a dealership. After learning that there are over 250,000 independent repair shops across the country, most of which had no online presence, he went on to create Steer’s first iteration, mechanicadvisor.com, a simple directory to help drivers find repair shops they could count on.

As the platform grew, Parker learned that finding a shop was just the first step. With 40% of customers never returning after their initial visit, he discovered that the real challenge was keeping customers coming back. Today, Steer gives shops the tools to stay connected with customers for the long haul, building trust, loyalty, and long-term growth.

Steer’s Roadmap

For almost 20 years, Steer has stayed true to its mission: improving the auto repair experience for shop owners and their customers. It’s been an evolution from Mechanic Advisor, a directory for independent repair shops, to modern-day Steer a comprehensive CRM system that has significantly improved customer retention and revenue for auto repair shops. This transformation laid the foundation for faster innovation and a more connected shop-to-customer experience.

After experiencing most of its growth in 2022 and 2023, all through word of mouth and bootstrapping, Parker and the Steer team wanted to explore taking on capital to use as an accelerant for the business, to scale the platform, and drive the company to the next level.

Introducing Roo Capital

Steer was looking to raise capital to add fuel to its fire. And as a first-time founder, Parker was looking for someone who knew where he was coming from and could act as a mentor on his growth journey.

That’s where Roo came in. With our founder-and-operator-led team, Roo had the capital, guidance, and operational firepower to drive Steer into market leadership.

Here’s how we did it.

Step One: Roo Capital

With an understanding of what it’s like to raise capital, Roo Capital is founder-friendly, which is something that Parker and the Steer team needed. Steer wasn’t looking for what some large firms with exciting names were offering: using their power for less-than-beneficial terms for founders.

Roo offered committed capital and terms that fit Steer’s needs.

Step Two: Roo Search

Next, using Roo Search’s ability to recruit world-class talent, Steer brought on five key executives, including a Head of Sales, a Head of Engineering, and a new CFO, which significantly streamlined Steer’s focus and alleviated their workload. Steer finally had an executive team that they could rely on and truly trust.

Step Three: Roo Growth

The final step came down to Roo’s strategic guidance, thanks to the Roo team’s sales and operational background, helping Steer build a strong sales function. 

Some pivotal highlights:

  • Using an “air traffic control” approach to sales, Roo provided valuable advice on building operational processes and measuring impact through data. 
  • Roo Growth played a key role in supporting Steer during its AutoOps acquisition, supplying playbooks for diligence, valuation, and deal structure negotiations. This resulted in building a stronger platform and a sharper brand, setting the stage for even faster growth for Steer.
  • On Roo’s recommendation, Steer adopted EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System), which has improved hiring and team accountability.

The Roo Impact

Since partnering with Roo Capital, Steer has experienced accelerated growth, particularly in its Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR). Steer has become a modern, scalable platform designed to unify its tools and accelerate product development. For the Steer team, that means bigger, broader growth for the small businesses they support. 

What does the future hold for Steer? Founder Parker Swift holds the goal of transforming the auto repair industry by owning “everything in front of the house” for repair shops, providing solutions for every way shops talk to their customers, from phone management to website deployment. That includes integrating new technologies, like AI, to automate back-end work, giving independent repair shop owners more time to focus on their businesses and lives as a whole.

 

“They understand truly what it’s like to be in my seat. As a first-time founder, having someone who can be a mentor and has experience in a similar situation is beneficial. They brought a lot of value that truly differentiated them from others.”