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M&A, JVs, and Strategic Partnerships
AutoScout24 acquires TRADER Canada
- AutoScout24, a leading pan-European online automotive marketplace, acquired TRADER Canada from Thoma Bravo?
- The acquisition extends AutoScout24's global presence beyond Europe while strengthening its position as a leading online automotive marketplace and expanding its services into dealer software and lender solutions through TRADER Canada's offerings
- AutoScout24 Group CEO Peter Brooks-Johnson said “This acquisition strengthens AutoScout24’s position as a leading global online automotive marketplace and will help accelerate the growth of both platforms. As a result, we will offer our customers, trade partners, OEMs, and financing partners in Europe and Canada better services and more innovative solutions.”
Reynolds and Reynolds acquires TSD Mobility Solutions
- Dealership software provider Reynolds and Reynolds acquired TSD Mobility Solutions, a provider of fleet management software and services
- TSD will continue to operate independently under the Reynolds umbrella with Shawn Concannon remaining as president
- The acquisition aligns with Reynolds' strategic focus on enhancing customer service and operational efficiencies for automotive dealerships and manufacturers?
Steer merges with AutoOps?
- Steer, the industry-leading CRM solution for automotive shops announced its merger with AutoOps, a leading provider of intelligent scheduling software for auto repair shops
- This merger is expected to enhance the operational efficiency of auto shops by streamlining appointment scheduling and customer communication, ultimately allowing shop owners to focus more on service quality
- Parker Swift, CEO of Steer, said "AutoOps has created the finest scheduling capabilities in the industry - by bringing our functionalities together, we're providing our shared customers with a best-in-class CRM and online scheduler in one platform. In other words, we're delivering on our promise to make their lives easier."
ACV acquires Irish start-up Drive
- ACV, an online auto auction platform and wholesale service provider, has acquired Irish start-up Drive
- Drive operates wholesale digital marketplace TradeBid and Nevo, a dedicated EV platform for consumers
- The Dublin-based company was founded in 2019 and currently employs a staff of about 40
PrivateAuto announces partnership with YASSI
- PrivateAuto, the only end-to-end transactional marketplace for private-party vehicles, announced a partnership with Yotta Automated Software Solutions Inc. (YASSI), the platform of record for real-time vehicle lienholder, registration, and title data
- PrivateAuto becomes the first platform to offer DMV Title Checks for private-party vehicles through a partnership with YASSI
- This new PrivateAuto feature combats fraud and boosts buyer confidence by allowing title checks with state DMV records, ensuring that buyers can verify they are purchasing from the legal owner
STELLA AI announces partnership with Dealer-FX
- Dealer-FX, a leading provider of service lane technology, has integrated STELLA AI into its platform for optimized operations
- STELLA AI, the leader in advanced AI technology, enhances the Dealer-FX platform by leveraging artificial intelligence to improve customer service and operational efficiency in the automotive industry
- This integration is part of Dealer-FX's ongoing efforts to enhance its platform with cutting-edge technology to serve the automotive industry better
- The companies said the addition of STELLA will improve dealerships’ management of customer interactions and service operations to enhance operational efficiency and the customer experience
Marchex partners with DealerOn for call analytics
- Marchex, a provider of AI-powered conversation intelligence SaaS solutions, announced a partnership with DealerOn, a leading automotive marketing technology company
- DealerOn will deploy Marchex’s call analytics and attribution platform to optimize marketing campaigns for their customers by leveraging conversational intelligence from calls including attribution to marketing sources
- Marchex Chief Revenue Officer Troy Hartless said “As Marchex continues to expand its innovation and leadership in the automotive industry, this partnership represents a significant step forward in providing essential conversational data analytics solutions for tracking and quantifying marketing initiatives”
ROME Technologies integrates with Tekion
- ROME Technologies, the leading body shop management system provider for dealers, announced an integration with Tekion
- Tekion is an innovator of the first cloud-native platform serving the automotive retail sector, to enhance collaboration and drive seamless connectivity for the automotive industry?
- The integration enables real-time, seamless data sharing between ROME's body shop management systems and Tekion's Automotive Retail Cloud (ARC), which is designed to streamline operations and eliminate the need for redundant data entry and improve operational efficiency for dealers
- “We are excited to bring this partnership to our clients to ensure secure and accurate data to our dealers. This single-point-of-entry solution is critical for day-to-day operations,” says James Rome, President of ROME
Car Wars and GoTo renew partnership to provide stronger integration
- Car Wars and GoTo have renewed their partnership to bring automotive dealers an even more powerful and seamless integration
- This integration with GoTo Connect provides a single end-to-end call recording, which eliminates gaps and ensures all calls and texts are accurately logged in Car Wars’ CRM
- “Our ongoing partnership with GoTo has always been about providing dealers with the best tools to manage their phone systems effectively,” Car Wars CEO Stephane Ferri said. “With this renewed commitment, we are positioned to offer an even more seamless, efficient and innovative solution that enhances every aspect of dealership phone processes”
Dominion DMS announces partnership with DealerPay
- Dominion DMS, a leading dealer management system in the automotive industry, has announced a strategic partnership with DealerPay, a leader in payment and point-of-sale solutions for dealerships
- The integration enables real-time data syncing, including consumer information, repair orders, and payment details, to enhance dealership efficiency, boost productivity, reduce errors, minimize chargebacks, and ultimately increase dealers profits
- "The core strategy behind VUE is to offer a streamlined, user-centric platform that adapts to the unique needs of each dealership. By providing a robust tech stack choice, we allow dealerships to tailor their DMS to their specific requirements, ensuring they hold all the cards in managing their operations effectively.", said Arlene Clements, VP of Business Development, Dominion DMS
Curbee integrates with Tekion to bring seamless connectivity to the automotive ecosystem
- Curbee, a mobile service technology platform for automotive dealers, announced an integration with Tekion, the innovator of the first cloud-native platform serving the entire automotive retail ecosystem
- This partnership aims to deliver the Curbee Platform, the only B2B mobile service platform designed to integrate directly into a dealer's existing dealer management software (DMS), via Tekion's Automotive Partner Cloud (APC), enhancing efficiency and ecosystem support for dealerships
- Curbee CEO Denise Leleux, said “Tekion’s comprehensive API suite has enabled us to develop innovative integrations that significantly enhance the operational performance of our partners and customers”
Sector news
3V Infrastructure secures $40MM in funding
- 3V Infrastructure, an NYC-based electric vehicle charging infrastructure owner and operator, raised $40MM in funding from Greenbacker Capital
- This investment highlights the financial viability and strong growth potential of the EV charging market
- The company intends to use the funds to expand access to Level 2 EV chargers in multifamily housing and hotels, addressing the growing demand for convenient electric vehicle charging
Carketa secures $4.4MM new growth capital in a funding round
- Carketa, a leading provider of end-to-end data and intelligence software for the automotive industry closed a $4.4MM early growth round
- Capital Eleven led the round, joined by new and existing investors, including Crosslink Capital, Origin Ventures, Allegis Capital, and Peak Ventures
- Tim Hansen, CEO of Carketa, said “This round of funding validates the leadership role that Carketa is taking in the automotive industry with our suite of profit intelligence software tools, paired with proprietary real-time data and insights. This was the right amount of capital from the right group of investors to help our company push our platform, data, and insights forward”
CDK settles dealers’ antitrust lawsuit for $100MM
- Automotive technology giant CDK Global has agreed to pay $100MM to settle a nationwide class action by retail auto dealerships claiming they overpaid for the company’s dealer management systems
- Plaintiffs claimed CDK violated antitrust law by conspiring to eliminate competition among vendors needing dealer data access for apps
- The proposed settlement includes dealer management system purchases from CDK and Reynolds & Reynolds since September 2013; Reynolds settled related claims in 2018 for nearly $30MM without admitting wrongdoing
About ComCap
ComCap is the premier boutique investment bank focused on software and tech-enabled services companies from high-growth verticals, including automotive retail software, B2B SaaS, e-commerce, FinTech, logistics, digital health, and business services
Headquartered in San Francisco, covering North America, LATAM and Asia, and focused EMEA coverage from London and Dubai, our firm works with mid-cap public companies on buy-side initiatives and public and private growth companies on financing and strategic M&A
In addition to being the only boutique focused on disruptive commerce models, we differentiate by:
- Bringing bulge bracket techniques to emerging models
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