AUTOVATE

The 8th Annual AUTOVATE Conference is thrilled to welcome Peter Guber as our keynote speaker at Caesars Republic Scottsdale! Limited spots are still available for this premier event that unites industry leaders, investors, dealers, and entrepreneurs. AUTOVATE is anything but typical—no endless PowerPoints here! Instead, enjoy engaging TED Talk-style Q&A sessions featuring some of the automotive industry’s top experts. Learn more here! https://autovate.org/

AUTOVATE 2024 returns to Scottsdale, AZ, at the Caesars Republic Scottsdale on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, and Thursday, December 5, 2024. Known for its cutting-edge content, extraordinary venues, delicious food, and engaging networking opportunities, AUTOVATE has become one of the industry’s most talked-about conferences—facilitating nearly $2 billion in transactions. Register Today: https://autovate.org/?

Secure your spot at AUTOVATE 2024 today! Don’t miss this premier event where industry leaders, investors, dealers, and entrepreneurs connect. It’s the ultimate deal-making opportunity of the year! Register today here: https://autovate.org/

Just TWO WEEKS away, the 8th annual premier AUTOVATE conference is here with high-net-worth executives, investors, and entrepreneurs in automotive retail. Secure your tickets today for exclusive insights! ?? Discover cutting-edge technology and innovation from visionary entrepreneurs in automotive retail. ?? Gain insights from dealers investing in groundbreaking companies. ?? Stay ahead with expert predictions from top automotive analysts on the industry’s future. Register today here: https://autovate.org/ #AUTOVATE #AutomotiveIndustry #FutureOfAutomotive

We always strive to bring fresh and innovative ideas and companies to AUTOVATE. And this one session will be worth the price of admission at @AUTOVATE in December. Scott Fogarty, CEO of Ridgeback Network Defense will share an innovative approach to cyber defense -- one that was born out a military mindset. It will be a conversation that will make you think... If you haven't registered yet, do so this week to secure our spot December 4th and 5th in Scottsdale. www.autovate.org

Lawyers -- yeah, we need them. And they play a critical role in helping deals cross the finish line. Daniel Raglan and his firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP (the oldest law firm in the U.S.) have been involved in several of largest transactions in automotive retail tech over the last several years. Daniel will be joining us at AUTOVATE this year (December 4th-5th) in Scottsdale to share the down and dirty on the legal side of getting deals done. Check out the event and our still-growing speaker list at www.autovate.org.

Three automotive retail investments in October: 1. BizzyCar announced last week a $15 million oversubscribed growth round led by Dealer Tire. Existing investors also participated in the funding. CEO Ryan Maher founded the company in 2019, and was backed by Avenue Growth Partners (an early investor in ACV Auctions and TruVideo). BizzyCar has built an automated service platform using recall data to drive customers into dealership service departments. 2. Numa announced a $32 million Series B round raised in September. CEO Tasso Roumeliotis (who was at AUTOVATE three years ago) co-founded the company in 2017 with Andy Ruff, Steven Ginn, and Joel Grossman. Originally focused on conversational AI, the company today has turned its attention to providing customer automation solutions to dealerships. Touring Capital and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. led the round which also included Google's AI-focused venture fund, Gradient Ventures, Costanoa Ventures -- both previous investors in Numa. 3. Treehouse announced this week a $16 million Series A raise funded by inVest Ventures. Cofounders include CEO Eric Owski, Daniel Francis, Jeremy Lwanga, Alex David, and Arthur Switalski. The company is focused on residential EV charging and can help dealerships provide home EV services to their customers. Other investors include Holman and Automotive Ventures.

We're bringing it again this year. No conference can top the candid conversations and cutting edge content we have at AUTOVATE. This year's featured guest comes to us from the Sports & Hollywood worlds -- Peter Guber, Chairman/Operating Owner of the Golden State Warriors, part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and famous Hollywood mogul, is joining us on stage at the 8th annual AUTOVATE event December 4-5 in Scottsdale. Engage with investors, Amazon executives, entrepreneurs, lawyers, investment bankers, and leading dealers for a day and half discussing innovative ideas, where the smart money is going, and how to plan for the next few years in the automotive retail space. Two days in December in Scottsdale -- no sales pitches, just insightful conversations with the people bringing the ideas and the people bringing the capital. And we'll hit the election and what the new administration means for automotive retail, along with AI, EVs, and the latest developments in cyber security. Last year, Reynolds and Reynolds President Chris Walsh said on stage, “This has probably been the best conference I’ve ever been to. I feel like I’ve learned more in the last two hours than I have in the last two years.” Here's a glimpse at just some of the speakers on stage this year -- https://lnkd.in/gwZyZy6U

First, kudos to Automotive News and Mark Hollmer for staying on top of the CDK cyber attack story. Second, a big wow for what Hollmer reported a couple of days ago -- that CDK Global and a "thorough third-party expert review" did not discover "a compromise of reportable dealer employee or consumer personally identifiable information that would give rise to any notification obligations relating to the incident." I know, this likely pushes against the realm of believability (paraphrasing one post I saw yesterday - congratulations to CDK for enduring the first ransomware attack in history to not include a data breach), but I think it's more likely CDK is telling the truth. Yes, there is a bit of wiggle room in the word "reportable" it uses in its statement. And that line between what is a ransomware attack and a data breach has narrowed significantly in recent years making it hard for a ransom attack to occur without a corresponding "reportable" data breach. But, it is possible. Unless CDK execs and their Brookfield owners (along with the third-party security expert) are brazen liars willing to go to prison, I doubt CDK would put out a statement like this without being as close to 100% as possible confident the company is in the clear. Assuming CDK is telling the truth, what's the significance of them not finding a "reportable" data breach? First, it likely clears them legally - from fines and exposure on the lawsuit front. Second, it enables CDK to put the June 19 attack behind them much more quickly. https://lnkd.in/erW3bY8G

Missed one - AutoScout24, backed by Hellman & Friedman is acquiring Canadian firm TRADER Corp. from PE giant Thoma Bravo. https://lnkd.in/eDZ_5xZU