ZOHR relocates HQ to Dallas; KC lauded as its test site, but too limiting to grow brand nationally
February 18, 2020 | Tommy Felts
Everything’s bigger in Texas for ZOHR — including the startup’s potential to drive onto the national automotive scene, said Komal Choong.
Photo courtesy of Zohr
“Kansas City has been our test market to prove out key elements of our growth and market expansion strategies,” said Choong, co-founder of ZOHR, confirming Tuesday that the on-demand tire service startup has relocated its headquarters to Dallas. “On the contrary, however, Kansas City has also limited our opportunity to grow into a national brand.”
“We’re getting much more traction with larger partnerships in Dallas compared to Kansas City,” he added.
ZOHR — one of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2019 — offers its mobile tire service to customers in the Kansas City and Dallas markets. Its headquarters relocation from the West Bottoms is not expected to impact access to ZOHR’s service across the KC metro, Choong said.
Zohr’s elevator pitch: Zohr – Tires Delivered & Installed is basically a tire shop that comes to you. We sell, deliver, and install new tires at your home or your office. We’re changing the way you change your tires and just making that process as easy as possible for the end consumer.
Other market destinations on the horizon for ZOHR in 2020: Houston, Austin and Denver.
Founded in 2015 by brothers Komal and Anoop Choong, ZOHR previously completed the Y Combinator Fellowship and Techstars Mobility in Detroit. The startup also is a portfolio company of Techstars, the KCRise Fund, Firebrand Ventures and Chicago-based M25.
“Kansas City is our hometown and our early customers gave us the support we needed to grow the business organically,” Choong said.
Click here to learn more about ZOHR’s tire delivery service.
This story is possible thanks to support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.
For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn
Featured Business
2020 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Fairwave adds another Minneapolis coffee company to its fresh-brewed collective alongside Messenger, Roasterie
FairWave Coffee Collective has pulled another shot of growth, serving up news Tuesday of its acquisition of a second Minneapolis-based purveyor in as many years. “We are thrilled to welcome Up Coffee Roasters to the FairWave collective,” Suzanne Gunning, vice president of marketing, said in a release. The acquisition keeps Kansas City-based FairWave on track with…
LaunchKC reviving $50K grants competition with 8 big checks for startups ready to call KC home
After a four-year hiatus, LaunchKC is officially set to bring back its signature grants competition. Early-stage tech companies will have the opportunity to each win $50,000 in non-dilutive grants, plus access to business support and networking. Co-founded by the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri, (EDCKC) and Downtown Council (DTC), the non-profit LaunchKC’s cornerstone…
It starts with wool on 125-year-old looms; story of Pancho’s Blanket weaves KC into family mission
The popularity of Jonathan Garvey’s favorite wool jacket from Mexico eventually would weave a story of entrepreneurship connecting Kansas City to his family’s home and artisans in Latin America. It took the COVID-19 pandemic and a desire to help impoverished communities in Mexico to propel that plan into action. About a year and a half…
Swing for the big league: Custom baseball bat maker turns wood into diamond-worthy dingers
Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. BALDWIN…