Introduction:
ukbased motorway series venturesbutchertechcrunch- An auction for privately owned cars is held by the UK. company Motorway, which enables professional auto dealers to participate. By reducing a lot of process friction, the startup has achieved quick success. With additional backers BMW I Ventures and Unbound, it has now raised £48 million ($67.7 million) in a Series B round. The round was led by Index Ventures. Let’s understand the details in the article below.
Who Is Motorway?
Motorway is a UK-based internet marketplace that makes it simple and quick for consumers to sell their old automobiles. Tom Leathes, Harry Jones, and Alex Buttle launched the business in 2017, and its main office is in London, England.
Users can submit their car’s registration number on Motorway’s platform to get an instant valuation based on recent market data. Motorway connects users with a network of car dealerships interested in buying the vehicle if they accept the valuation. The user can then utilise Motorway’s platform to select the best offer and complete the sale.
By offering a more open and practical alternative to established techniques like private sales or trade-ins, Motorway hopes to make the process of selling an automobile easier. Notable investors like Marchmont Ventures, LocalGlobe, and Index Ventures have provided investment to the business.
By the year 2021, Motorway claimed to have saved users over £24 million in comparison to more conventional techniques and have assisted over 250,000 people in selling their automobiles. The business is one of the top competitors in the UK’s expanding online auto sales market.
Who is Index Ventures?
ukbased motorway series venturesbutchertechcrunch- The venture capital business Index Ventures has offices in San Francisco and London. The business was established in 1996 and has subsequently made investments in a variety of profitable technological firms. These include Dropbox, Skype, SoundCloud, and Supercell. With an emphasis on early-stage investments in Internet startups, Index Ventures’ investment portfolio spans a variety of industries. These include software, mobile, e-commerce, as well gaming. The company is well renowned for its hands-on approach to working with portfolio firms . It has a proven track record of assisting startups to develop and flourish.
“We’re always looking to invest in startups that are actually disrupting an industry and meeting a true customer demand,” said Danny Rimer, partner at Index Ventures. You can find it in Motorway. The team has created a platform that is exceptionally strong, supported by excellent technology and a thorough comprehension of the difficulties that vehicle dealers and consumers face. Tens of thousands of individuals selling their cars have swiftly made Motorway their first stop. Since being started in 2017 by Tom Leathes, Harry Jones, and Alex Buttle, Motorway has raised £14 million in venture capital.
Motorway UK Rises $67.7M In Series B Funding By Index Ventures:
Motorway is a Uk Based Startup which enables professional auto dealers to participate in auctions for privately listed vehicles. By reducing a lot of friction in the process, the startup has achieved quick success. It has now secured a Series B round investment of £48 million ($67.7 million), led by Index Ventures, with participation from fresh investors BMW I Ventures and Unbound. Latitude and Marchmont Ventures, two previous investors, additionally took part. The company will use the money to grow the 160-person workforce and expand the company’s platform.
The business claims that by uploading the vehicle’s information via a smartphone app. That also utilises computer vision to evaluate the vehicle’s condition, customers may sell their cars for up to £1,000 more than they could through other channels. The automobile was then put up for auction each day online, with bids coming from over 3,000 licenced automotive dealers. The car is then picked up for free by the winning dealer within 24 hours of the highest offer being accepted.
Since its start in 2017, Motorway claims to have sold 65,000 automobiles, with sales reaching £50 million in May 2021 alone, with £2.5 million in daily transactions and more than 4,000 completed car purchases each month. There is plenty of space for this sector to expand since only 5% of all vehicles in the U.K. are now sold online. Ineffective offline procedures have produced unsatisfactory deals and a bad experience for both car sellers and car dealers.
Online Presence Of Motorway
In order to create a superior online experience where everyone benefits, Motorway completely modified the broken experience that left everyone unhappy. Eliminating the intermediaries results in a better deal for the customer and the car dealer. All done from home and without stress. Our drive on giving more value through technology has resulted in our incredible growth to date, and this investment will give us the push we need to advance Motorway.
Leathes continued, “COVID has been a great accelerator of something that was already happening,” to me during our interview. The auto industry is shifting online, which is partially due to consumers purchasing their next vehicle online, but it’s also because dealers are altering their behaviour, business practises, and the places they purchase their vehicles. It compelled the change that they had long fought, and now that they are accepting it, the industry has undergone a profound change. And for this reason, we believe there is a huge opportunity to offer the rails that will enable both sides of the industry to move online.
“It’s rare to have entrepreneurs who have worked together across numerous successful and unsuccessful firms who have that scar tissue and success, and are now pursuing a much larger opportunity,” continued Rimer. The business model is crucial for us because it avoids having to keep inventory and then dispose of it—similar to the distinction between Net-a-Porter and Farfetch. ukbased motorway series venturesbutchertechcrunch Similar to Farfetch, Motorway’s marketplace doesn’t have any inventory, therefore they may succeed only by providing a platform for consumers and sellers. So, there is significantly less risk with how you use the money to expand the business.
Who Is Mike Butcher?
TechCrunch’s Editor-at-Large is Mike Butcher (M.B.E.). He has contributed to national newspapers and journals in the UK. Wired UK called him one of the most important figures in European technology. He has spoken at the Web Summit, DLD, and the World Economic Forum.
He has spoken with Tony Blair, Dmitry Medvedev, Kevin Spacey, Lily Cole, Pavel Durov, Jimmy Wales, and also many others. Mike has been on channels like Bloomberg, BBC News, Sky News, CNBC, and also Channel 4.
He has previously served as a judge on The Apprentice UK . He also provided digital startup policy advice to UK Prime Ministers as well as the Mayor of London. Butcher is one of the 100 Most Connected Men in the UK by GQ magazine.
He co-founded the non-profits Techfugees.com, TechVets.co, and Coadec.com. This is in addition to the newsletter ThePathfounder.com, TheEuropas.com (the annual European Tech Startup Conference & Awards for 12 years), and ThePathfounder.com. In 2016 the Queen’s Birthday Honours list recognised him with an MBE for his contributions to journalism and the UK technology sector.
