Autotech Ventures said Thursday it has closed its third fund. The early-stage venture capital firm, which aims to tackle ground transportation challenges through technology, said the $230 million fund will be used for investments in mobility-related startups that are in seed through Series C funding stages. Autotech also announced that it has added Repair OnDemand […] [Read More]

Dealers and others who need to know the true condition of a used vehicle or perhaps want to quickly inspect a customer’s vehicle sitting in their service drive, are being given more options than ever before for obtaining that peace-of-mind intel. Some of the more recent entrants into the inspections and condition reports space use apps to get the job done and along with others, have developed sophisticated technology, often powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence. Then there are companies such as [Read More]

Black Widow Imaging has new ownership and has restructured under new management. The company, which specializes in high-quality automotive imaging, was purchased late last year in an auction in Missouri bankruptcy court by an angel investor group. Leading the company now is president Darren Kemper, who was formerly the chief operating officer. He joined the […] [Read More]

Just ahead of its public recognition at this week’s Auto Intel Summit, STELLA Automotive AI made a move with another technology service provider to help dealerships. The provider of high-end conversational technology powered by artificial intelligence announced an adapter integration with Orbee, a leading provider of customer experience middleware for dealerships. Together, STELLA and Orbee […] [Read More]

John Foley is president of Richmond, Va.-based Recharged, which describes itself as the first end-to-end ecommerce marketplace designed specifically for used electric vehicle buyers and sellers. Foley joins the Auto Remarketing Podcast to discuss the genesis of the company, how the business model works, potential B2B applications as well as Recharged’s first delivery center and […] [Read More]

The wave of mergers and acquisitions in multiple parts of automotive continued this week. AutoAlert, a provider of data analytics solutions, announced that it has been acquired by certain funds and accounts managed by BlackRock. Through a news release, Phil Tseng, managing director and co-head of US Private Capital, BlackRock Alternatives, explained why the firm […] [Read More]

J.D. Power has teamed up with connected vehicle analytics and infrastructure company Motorq to provide insights to the auto industry based on connected vehicle data. And this partnership kicks off with used electric vehicles — specifically, data to measure EV battery health. J.D. Power vice president and head of connected vehicles Dave Sargent joins the […] [Read More]

Dealers now have more ways to converse with potential vehicle buyers who prefer online interaction before potentially walking through the showroom doors. Cox Automotive recently announced that it has unlocked more ActivEngage messaging capabilities across several retailing brands and solutions including Autotrader, Accelerate My Deal, Dealer.com and Kelley Blue Book. According to a news release, […] [Read More]

Artificial intelligence is often bandied about in places such as auto financing. Last week, AutoRevo brought AI to the marketing part of auto retailing. The software provider launched AI Vehicle Description Builder, what AutoRevo sees as an innovative solution that can address the challenges dealerships face in creating engaging, accurate and consistent vehicle descriptions for […] [Read More]

Automotive Ventures said Thursday it is closing its new DealerFund to new investors at the end of the month. The automotive technology and mobility venture capital firm announced the launch of the DealerFund in March 2022 as a means to help dealers “navigate through the next decade of unprecedented change, invest into and participate financially […] [Read More]