In this episode of Recorded at Red Nine, we sit down with one of the founders of Partly — the Christchurch-based startup transforming the global automotive supply chain using AI.
If you’ve ever had a car repaired, you’ve experienced the inefficiencies firsthand. Wrong parts. Delays. Supplementary orders. Wasted time. Insurance costs blowing out.
Partly is solving that.
By using AI to identify the exact parts required for a repair — down to the precise SKU — and intelligently selecting the optimal supplier, Partly is eliminating billions in inefficiency across one of the world’s largest industries.
With over 120 people across Christchurch, Auckland, London, Manila and San Francisco, and four funding rounds behind them, Partly is building what could become one of New Zealand’s most ambitious global tech companies.
We cover:
• Why 95% accuracy in parts ordering is still a huge problem
• How AI can identify car damage from video
• Why project selection is the most important decision in business
• The difference between good opportunities and great ones
• What it really takes to raise venture capital
• And why this could be a trillion-dollar opportunity
This is a story about ambition, scale and building from Canterbury to the world.
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🎙 Hosted by Andy Rowe
📍 Filmed at Red Nine Studios - https://www.redninestudios.com
🌍 Businesses Building Canterbury
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CHAPTERS
01:01 The Broken Parts Ordering System
03:55 Why 95% Accuracy Is Still a Huge Problem
05:20 The Two Big Problems Partly Solves
07:28 AI Analysing Vehicle Damage From Video
08:54 Why Car Manufacturers Make It Complicated
10:53 Standardising 30,000 Parts Per Vehicle
12:20 From Homeschool to Startup Founder
14:33 Building a Business From a Caravan
17:01 The Most Important Rule in Business: Project Selection
18:38 Saying No to “Good”
19:46 Why They Shut Down Their First Company
22:28 Growing Partly to 120+ Staff Globally
23:54 Brutal Reflection and Cutting Average
25:01 Are They in the Black or the Red?
27:10 Raising Venture Capital
29:02 The Trillion Dollar Opportunity
30:40 Thinking in Decades, Not Years
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