LOS ANGELES -

Another technology-enabled platform designed to utilize data to optimize wholesale dealer trades throughout Canada and the United States received a significant injection of investment funding this week.

Signal Automotive announced a $20 million investment led by Kayne Partners Fund, the growth private equity group of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors.

Formed in 2017, Signal said its platform is a unique combination of proprietary software and managed services that can optimize the buying, selling and inventory allocation processes for licensed dealers

Signal’s Predictive Inventory Engine (PIE) is designed to allow selling dealerships to receive near real-time, guaranteed offers on their trades. The company said that buying dealers can get consistent access to inventory with a streamlined process that can enable them to buy efficiently at scale.

The platform utilizes millions of real-time vehicle and market data points to assist dealers in optimizing their inventory mix and understanding what is and isn’t selling for them, as well as their geographic market.

Using PIE, Signal then can show a dealer a curated list of available vehicles best suited to them. Signal said its platform is the only place where a dealer can purchase “20 vehicles in 20 minutes.”

Vehicles are then delivered front-line ready to dealers’ lots, with all logistics and transportation included in the price.

“We launched Signal three years ago with a vision of tech enabling wholesale, an often-overlooked segment of the $1.4 trillion automotive sector in the U.S.,” said Steve Jillings, co-founder and chief executive officer of Signal Automotive. “We couldn’t be happier with the progress we’ve made and how receptive our dealer partners have been as we bring wholesale out of the shadows.

“And now, along with the entire Signal team, I am thrilled to have Kayne Partners as our first outside investor. We could not have chosen a better group to build a world-class company with,” Jillings continued in a news release.

Kayne Partners Fund managing partner Nate Locke described why the firm made this financial commitment to Signal Automotive.

“We are very excited to partner with Steve and the Signal team. Their technology-focused disruptive approach to the overlooked wholesale automotive market is driving considerable value for both buyers and sellers,” Locke said.

“We are eager to help Signal accelerate its growth and continue developing innovative technologies to establish itself as a critical part of the supply chain for its dealer partners,” Locke continued.

Signal indicated that it will utilize the financing to expand its dealer network across North America and further investment into its technology platform and data analytics capabilities to enable its dealer partners to be even more efficient.