A startup seeking to help dealers source inventory from private sellers is swinging for the fences, stepping up to the plate with a lineup of Cox Automotive veterans that includes one of the biggest names in the auto industry.

The heaviest hitter is Chip Perry, founding president and CEO of Autotrader and former CEO of TrueCar, who has joined sellmyride as its new chairman.

In a news release, the company, founded in 2024, said Robbie Bezdek, a longtime Cox Automotive executive and former iHeartMedia senior vice president of automotive, has also come on board to support its next stage of U.S. expansion.

In addition, sellmyride founder and president Dom Pope said in a LinkedIn post that Automotive Ventures, led by Steve Greenfield, is investing in the company “as part of a wider raise.”

Perry, who is also an operating partner for Automotive Ventures, is well known as a pioneer in the automotive digital space, having built Autotrader.com into one of the nation’s largest third-party vehicle shopping sites with more than $1.5 billion in annual revenue and 20,000 dealership partners.

sellmyride said Perry’s innovation and leadership in shaping Autotrader and other Cox Automotive brands has “transformed the way cars are bought and sold.”

“The reason I got excited about sellmyride is because it solves an always-on problem for dealers: acquiring high-quality inventory efficiently,” Perry said.

Even with the explosive growth of digital tools for dealerships, he said, “there’s still a huge open and unmet need for dealers to source used cars directly from the public. sellmyride fills that need better than anything I’ve seen on the market in the past 25 years.

“In the U.S., dealers rely heavily on trade-ins, auctions or ad hoc street purchases, but most don’t have the in-house muscle or marketing capability to consistently attract private sellers. sellmyride changes that.”

Rather than a generic lead generator, sellmyride said it provides a dealership-branded platform that is an always on, designed for operators seeking to acquire 50 to 100 or more units per month directly from private sellers.

“What we’re providing is a new weapon in the dealer’s arsenal, something that immunizes them from the onslaught of national players like CarMax and Carvana who are taking inventory out of local markets,” Perry said. “Why shouldn’t our clients capture those cars? That’s what we hope, that’s what we dream about and that’s what we’re inspired to do.”

sellmyride said Bezdek brings expertise in marketplace operations, media strategy and dealer engagement to the company.

“Having worked across both marketplaces and media, I’ve seen first-hand how difficult it is for dealerships to consistently acquire the right inventory,” Bezdek said. “sellmyride removes that friction, giving dealers a direct pipeline to high-converting, motivated sellers through a branded, always-on solution to acquire 50-plus vehicles per month from the public.”

Pope said the addition of Perry and Bezdek is “a huge moment for us,” accelerating the company’s vision “to become the go-to platform” for dealership inventory acquisition, helping dealers source more efficiently and protect local market share.

“Chip helped define what digital retail means in this industry,” Pope said. “Robbie comes to sellmyride with 20-plus years of experience working with dealers, from the showroom to the boardroom, at some of the largest automotive and media companies in the U.S.”

The company also announced it has added Cox Automotive veterans Juan Flores, Sal Khan and Jay Urban to its team.

Flores, who previously worked on Cox brands Kelley Blue Book, Manheim and Autotrader, brings experience in “crafting high-performing customer and dealer acquisition journeys,” sellmyride said. He’ll serve as chief client officer. The company said Khan and Urban, both of whom have more than 20 years of auto industry experience, have “deep relationships with decision-makers across dealer groups.”