Bridgestone Americas has announced a minority investment in Yoshi, a provider of contactless vehicle care services brought directly to consumer, fleet and corporate customers’ homes and workplaces. Offerings currently available through Yoshi include on-site automotive refueling, car wash and detailing, oil changes and vehicle inspections.
Originally founded in 2015 as a direct-to-consumer gas delivery service, Yoshi moved its headquarters in 2021 from Silicon Valley in California to Nashville. To date, Yoshi has raised more than $46 million, securing support from General Motors and ExxonMobil as well as Y Combinator, NBA All-Star Kevin Durant and NFL legend Joe Montana.
“As we continue to expand our service offerings across the country, we couldn’t be more excited to team-up with a world-class partner that shares our vision of making car maintenance and service as frictionless as possible for our customers,” said Bryan Frist, Yoshi’s CEO and co-founder.
The partnership paves the way for Bridgestone and Nashville-based Yoshi to explore joint service offerings, including pairing Bridgestone’s company-owned retail service network and Firestone Direct mobile tire and services program with Yoshi’s fleet of mobile service vehicles.
Bridgestone and Yoshi plan to launch their integration plans later in 2022, allowing Bridgestone retail stores and Firestone Direct to refer business between Bridgestone and Yoshi customers.
“The economy of on-demand services continues to grow, and vehicle-related solutions are rising rapidly in popularity,” said Craig Schneider, chief strategy officer at Bridgestone Americas. “Our investment in Yoshi will allow Bridgestone to expand the number of services available to our customers, with the ultimate vision to offer concierge vehicle management for everyone.”
The Yoshi investment is part of Bridgestone’s pursuit of concierge services for personal mobility and fleet customers. This includes the recently launched RESOLV platform for subscription-based vehicle maintenance, the company’s Firestone Direct mobile tire and services business, and the investment in Wrench 2021.