This month has been quite transformative for Autosled.
Not only did the company that aims to make vehicle logistics/transportation more efficient and simpler through technology announce that it has completed its Series A funding round and established its board of directors, Autosled also appointed a new chief executive officer, choosing a leader who one of the founders has known since they were in high school together.
Tapped to spearhead its leadership team, Autosled chose former Tesla and SolarCity executive Leon “Lee” Keshishian as CEO not long after naming a new chief technology officer as well as a new vice president of business development and a new VP of data and analytics.
According to a news release, Keshishian joined Autosled initially as a board advisor to assist the company through its strategic planning and funding efforts. During that process, Keshishian was asked to join full time to lead the company into its next stage of growth in automotive logistics.
As CEO, Autosled said Keshishian is focused on talent acquisition, scaling the business for accelerated growth and securing funding. A marketing and business professional with high growth operations experience across consumer products, renewable energy, and logistics, Autosled highlighted that Keshishian is “uniquely positioned” to move the company forward.
“Having known Lee since high school, I was excited to initially get him involved in Autosled’s mission to transform the automotive logistics market as an advisor,” said David Sperau, co-founder and Autosled chief revenue officer.
“After working with him over several months in that capacity, and witnessing his ability to develop strategic plans, hire top talent and position operations for scalable growth, we were excited to have him join us full time,” Sperau continued in the news release.
A former executive at Tesla, Autosled said Keshishian is no stranger to the opportunities available in automotive transport, nor the fast-paced environment of a company that’s in demand.
Early in his career, Keshishian managed brands like Dial Soap, launched new housing developments for Pulte Homes and co-founded one of the first renewable energy companies in the Mid-Atlantic region.
After the acquisition of Clean Currents Solar by SolarCity, Keshishian grew from one location in Maryland to more than 30 facilities and more than 3,000 employees that sold and installed residential and commercial solar and energy storage systems on the East Coast, building the largest region in the largest solar company in America.
After SolarCity was acquired by sister company Tesla, Keshishian integrated his team and supported the expansion of Tesla products, such as EV charging, energy storage and new roofing products. The team also helped build automobiles in California, construct battery lines in Nevada and delivered autos at quarter endings, exposing him to the logistics challenges.
After leaving Tesla in 2018, Keshishian founded an asset management company for SolarCity customers, KWH Care. This quickly merged with Palmetto Solar, bringing Keshishian on board as chief operating officer.
At Palmetto, Keshishian hired and grew its fulfillment and field operations teams, resulting in a 400% growth in two years.
As COVID-19 hit, Keshishian reconnected with his former classmate David Sperau on his new venture, Autosled. Spending time with David and his brother Dan, Keshishian became convinced of the market potential and began advising the company.
“Lee has really helped us prepare for growth, bringing funding partners who share our vision of changing the way automotive vehicles are transported,” said Dan Sperau, co-founder and chief financial officer. “He has helped set us up for an exciting 2022.’’
Funding and board developments
As previously mentioned, Autosled confirmed the closing of a $5 million Series A round as the company continues its mission to revolutionize the automotive transport marketplace.
According to another news release, leading the round was Lyndon Rive, who co-founded SolarCity (now Tesla Energy) in 2006 along with his brother Pete and cousin, Elon Musk.
Joining Rive in the Series A investment was Andrew Leto, founder of freight procurement marketplace Emerge. Leto invested through Arcturus Venture, his single-family investment office that specializes in supporting tech enabled startups within the transportation and logistics sectors.
Following Rive and Leto in this round was Dave Baggett, current CEO of Inky Technology and former COO and co-founder of ITA software, an airfare pricing engine platform acquired by Google in 2010 (now Google Travel).
A group of individuals from the Georgetown Angel Investor Network, represented by Marc Suhlam, also participated in the round.
The company said this funding brings Autosled’s total capital raised to more than $7 million.
“When Lee first described Autosled’s goals, I saw the opportunity,” Rive said. “After dealing with Tesla’s own vehicle delivery pain points, I knew firsthand the market challenges that needed to be addressed.
“Dan and David’s retail automotive knowledge, combined with Lee’s operational execution, made the investment decision a no-brainer,” Rive continued.
In addition to completing its Series A round, Autosled appointed John Stewart to the board of directors.
Stewart founded MapAnything in 2006, a data mapping tool for location-based services that was acquired by Salesforce in 2019.
The company explained Stewart’s knowledge of location intelligence plays a vital role in Autosled’s future product roadmap as it continues to optimize its platform.
Stewart has continued to invest and serve as a board advisor for various start-ups, such as Palmetto and Emerge.
“Ushering in transparency through the use of technology is the key to reinventing transporter logistics,” Leto said. “The chance to bring these improvements to the automotive sector with Autosled was a natural extension to my other ventures.
“Lee and the team have the potential to build an incredibly impactful solution. We are already receiving extremely positive feedback from both dealerships and transporters who are utilizing the Autosled platform,” Leto went on say.
UPDATED: Story has been updated to correct start date of Lev Peker.
CarLotz announced on Tuesday afternoon that the last day of employment for co-founder and chief executive officer Michael Bor will be Wednesday.
The company also appointed Lev Peker as its new CEO, who will be taking on the role effective April 18.
The company moves coincided with the release of a mobile app and CarLotz’s fourth-quarter and full-year financial statements.
“Lev brings to CarLotz an exceptional blend of senior executive leadership experience, proven industry capabilities in online retail and a track record of shareholder value creation,” said Luis Solorzano, chairman of the board for CarLotz. “We believe Lev’s record of success as a CEO, with acumen in marketing, operations, and finance, and a history leading a consumer facing, technology-enabled, and operationally complex business, make him an ideal choice to take CarLotz into its next chapter of growth.
“We believe that Lev will be instrumental in helping to strengthen and grow the business and that under his leadership, CarLotz will be positioned for long-term success,” Solorzano continued in a news release.
Peker joins CarLotz after serving as chief executive officer at CarParts.com, a leading e-commerce provider of automotive parts and accessories. Prior to that position, he was chief marketing officer at Adorama, a leading electronics retailer.
Previously, Peker held senior positions at Sears Holdings Corp. and CarParts.com.
“I am excited for the opportunity to lead CarLotz into a new era of growth and innovation,” Peker said. “With an innovative business model, I believe CarLotz has great potential to increase market share as we emerge from COVID-19 and supply chain-related challenges that have hampered sourcing and operations throughout the sector.”
Bor guided CarLotz from its inception to becoming a publicly traded last January. The company received a $5 million capital injection in 2014 and since expanded nationwide with Bor at the controls to set up vehicle hubs from Seattle to Orlando, Fla.
The company reported on Tuesday that its annual net revenue for 2021 increased 118% to $258.5 million from $118.6 million in 2020, while its retail unit sales in 2021 increased 57% to 9,748 from 6,215 in 2020.
“On behalf of the board of directors, employees in the Richmond headquarters and throughout the U.S., and our business partners, we thank Michael for his vision, leadership and support,” Solorzano said about Bor, who along with his colleagues were finalists for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 Mid-Atlantic Award.
“Michael and the founding team saw an opportunity in the consignment marketplace and built a business that is changing the car buying and selling experience. We continue to see significant opportunity in CarLotz and look forward to its next chapter led by Lev,” Solorzano went on to say.
With more than 40 years of company tenure between them, Manheim announced the appointment of three new general managers who each have deep experience serving their clients, team members and communities.
The trio tapped for these auction leadership positions during the first quarter included DiAngelo Brooks, David Carlucci and Charlie Clarke.
The company said Brooks has been promoted to GM for Manheim Harrisonburg, which is part of the Manheim Mid-Atlantic Market Center that includes Manheim Fredericksburg, Manheim Baltimore-Washington and Manheim Harrisonburg.
With a love for automobiles that began at his grandfather's salvage yard working as an unpaid parts puller, the company highlighted Brooks joined Manheim in 2010 as an OVE sales coordinator and was promoted to field sales manager for Virginia and Maryland in 2011.
Most recently, Brooks was assistant general manager at Manheim Fredericksburg where the location won the Best Auction of the Year award from 2016 through 2019.
Meanwhile, Carlucci has been promoted to general manager for Manheim New England, which is part of the Manheim Northeast Market Center that also includes Manheim New York and Manheim Albany. He previously served as the location’s assistant general manager since 2014, where he was responsible for all aspects of auction operations.
Manheim indicated Carlucci’s 20-plus year career in the auction industry also includes numerous roles in marketing, factory coordinator, dealer services, auction manager, general manager and corporate national sales.
Furthermore, Clarke has been promoted to GM for Manheim Darlington, which is part of the Manheim Carolina Market Center that also includes Manheim North Carolina and Manheim Wilmington. Clarke joined Manheim after college in 2001, beginning at Manheim Tennessee in lot operations before transitioning to various roles including arbitration, financial services and commercial accounts.
While there, the company noted that Clarke helped start the location’s Total Resource Auctions (TRA) salvage sale as well as holding the role of inside sales manager. Following the auction’s merger with Manheim Nashville, Clarke held several manager-level positions before being promoted to assistant general manager in 2016.
“As the industry and our business continue to evolve, we continue to look to our talented leaders to drive innovative solutions for our clients and our company,” said Matt Trapp, who is Manheim’s regional vice president for the East region.
“All three have proven records of success in their regions and we look forward to seeing the ongoing contributions we know they’ll make in their new roles,” Trapp continued in a news release.
Longtime auto industry analyst Jesse Toprak, whose background includes time with Edmunds, TrueCar and Cars.com, is now the chief analyst at Autonomy, the electric vehicle subscription platform from Scott Painter and Georg Bauer.
Toprak was most recently the chief executive officer of CarHub. His auto analyst roles included being the chief analyst at Cars.com, the vice president of market intelligence at TrueCar and the executive director of industry analysis at Edmunds.
His 25-plus years in automotive includes roles at franchised dealerships, consulting with OEMs and work with consumer automotive companies.
“The automotive industry is making transformative changes at a pace that’s unprecedented in the last several decades and consumer preferences are starting to shift toward electric vehicles as an influx of models enter the market,” Toprak said in the release.
“I’m excited to join the Autonomy team and advance their mission to make access to electric vehicles more affordable and share my insights on the trends emerging across the mobility sector,” he said.
Painter, who is the founder and CEO of Autonomy, also founded TrueCar and worked with Toprak at that company.
“I’m excited to be working with Jesse again. As a leading automotive analyst with rich experience in the EV space,” Painter said in the news release.
“His insights and analysis will be important as the industry transforms, not only from ICE to EV’s, but also from buying, leasing and owning a vehicle, to flexible access vehicle subscription programs,” he said.
Autonomy’s partnership with Equifax
In other news from the company, Autonomy announced Friday that it has teamed up with Equifax. As part of their partnerships, Autonomy will utilize the Equifax InstaTouch ID mobile consumer identity and authentication solution as well as differentiated data and analytics from the company to help facilitate completely digital subscription transactions to occur on the consumer’s smartphone.
Autonomy said those transactions can happen in as quick as 10 minutes.
The company debuted its Tesla Model 3 subscription platform in January in California, and plans to expand to other markets and EVs.
"Consistent with our mission to deliver the cheapest, fastest and easiest way to get a Tesla Model 3, and to make access to electric vehicles easy and affordable, Equifax has enabled us to deliver on a 100% mobile and digital experience for consumers in 10 minutes," Painter said in a news release.
Equifax InstaTouch ID is designed to authenticate a consumer’s identity through the company’s differentiated and alternative data sources, allowing for pre-population of consumer data while they’re submitting an online application. This can help facilitate quick and easy consumer verification and credit standing on consumers for Autonomy.
“Leading subscription services today and tomorrow will define the new digital retailing in automotive, where consumers enjoy a fast, seamless and trusted transaction process in a mobile environment,” Lena Bourgeois, who is Equifax’s general manager of automotive services, said in a news release.
“We're excited to leverage our advanced data, tools and resources that only Equifax can deliver to help power Autonomy as a leader in subscription services today and in the future,” Bourgeois said.
On Monday, motormindz named a senior partner of supplier strategy, appointing John Moloney to the role.
Moloney’s three-plus decades in the auto industry includes time with such companies as Bose, Bosch and Michelin.
“John’s extensive experience cuts across so many skill sets — sales, brand management, strategy — that are key for our customers,” motormindz president Jason Stein said in a news release. “We’re lucky to have him join the team and we know his contributions and impact will be immediate.”
Moloney added: “I am excited to be joining the motormindz team and I look forward to working with Jeff Van Dongen and Jason to assist suppliers in accelerating what is next across the entire value chain as the automotive industry continues its unprecedented transformation.”
Cox Automotive made two major executive moves on Friday, naming a new president for the Retail Solutions group as well as a chief strategy officer for the company.
The new Retail Solutions group president is Lori Wittman, who has been senior vice president of dealer software solutions the past six years.
And the new CSO and executive vice president is Amy Mills, who had been the interim group president for Retail Solutions when Keith Jezek announced his retirement from the company earlier this year.
Mills has been a part of the executive leadership team at Cox for several years.
Mills joined the company in 2011 as an assistant marketing manager for Manheim. Prior to her post as CSO, she was vice president of strategy for Cox Automotive and held several product, marketing and operational roles at Manheim.
Both Wittman and Mills will report to Cox Automotive president Steve Rowley, who had this to say about each of them:
“Lori has the perfect combination of business acumen, team building, decisiveness and future-forward vision to lead our powerful suite of Retail Solutions,” Rowley said. “The momentum these businesses now carry is undeniable. Lori will continue to connect the automotive experience for the consumer and deliver unparalleled, transformational value to our dealer, lender and OEM clients.”
He added: “Amy is known as a versatile and values-based leader, who’s been at the forefront of Cox Automotive’s success for more than 20 years. Amy will continue to be instrumental in building our strategic future both here in U.S. and across the globe at Cox Automotive.”
The leadership structure of the newly combined XLerate and America’s Auto Auction groups continues to take shape.
XLerate Group — which is the parent company of America’s, Auction Credit Enterprises, XLerate Auctions, XL Funding and Liquid Motors — has named four new senior vice presidents.
These new senior VPs — Laura Taylor, John Swofford, Jason Nichols and Brian Thomas — will join XLerate Group’s executive team.
Other members of the executive team include chief executive officer Cam Hitchcock, executive VP Chuck Tapp and EVP/chief financial officer Charles Kunkel.
One of the new senior VPs (Taylor) has been promoted from a prior roles in the XLerate organization; while three come from prior roles at America’s.
Taylor has been general manager of Charleston Auto Auction in South Carolina since 2009, after joining the auction in 2004.
After spending 16 years with Manheim and ADT Automotive, Swofford came over to America’s in 2009, serving as senior VP through last year.
Thomas has been with America’s since 2008 after time with Tri-State Auto Auction in Pennsylvania and Capital City Auto Auction in West Virginia.
He was a senior VP with America’s through 2021.
Nichols, meanwhile, has been with America’s since 2012, eventually working in the acquisition piece of the business.
“There is great talent in the America’s organization, and we are thrilled to welcome John, Brian, and Jason to the combined senior team,” Hitchcock, the XLerate CEO, said in a news release.
“We are also happy to announce the promotion of Laura Taylor, former GM of Charleston Auto Auction, to SVP as she joins Brian and John in oversight of our auction operations.”
Hitchcock added: “XLerate Group’s acquisition of America’s Auto Auction in December 2021 creates an extensive group of 39 auction sites across 19 states. We are expanding and strengthening our executive team to meet the needs of our company and our customers.”
XLerate closed its purchase of America’s Auto Auction last month, a deal initially announced in December that also brought America’s Auction Credit Enterprises (ACE) property under its umbrella.
Last week, XLerate announced it was bringing the ACE and XL Funding (XLF) floor plan finance companies under common leadership, naming Chris Burton the president of both ACE and XLF.
PureCars said Tuesday it has promoted senior director of national accounts Lauren Donalson to the role of vice president of client experience and strategic partnerships.
Donalson, who has been with PureCars for more than six years, will now head up several of the company’s client and partner teams. That includes digital strategy, OEM programs, solutions engineering and business development.
Before her time with PureCars, Donalson was with GS Marketing for five years. In that role, she managed front-end and parts/service marketing for Toyota dealerships and sister stores in the New York and Boston regions. Donalson began her automotive career by working in her family’s dealership group.
“Lauren’s extensive in-dealership experience throughout the sales, finance and insurance, accounting, and service and parts departments, along with her automotive marketing knowledge allows her to consult from an inside-out perspective,” PureCars president Jeff Ranalli.
“Lauren’s longstanding proximity to automotive and unique history allows her to translate dealerships’ stated opportunities into digital advertising actions and optimizations, resulting in highly profitable opportunities,” Ranalli said.
Donalson is also frequent guest columnist for Auto Remarketing, offering her expertise on dealer advertising.
Last month, she joined the Auto Remarketing Podcast ahead of Super Bowl XLI to talk about the automotive ad landscape as well as opportunities for dealers to bring eyeballs to their websites.
To listen to that conversation, click on the link available below, or visit the Auto Remarketing Podcast page.
Autosled, an auto digital retail logistics marketplace, has named a chief technology officer.
Appointed to the role was Jeremy Wood, who most recently worked through Stratiform Inc. as a fractional CIO/CTO for various startups.
He also consulted as an AWS Partner Network member on cloud architecture projects for Seneca Resources and the U.S Air Force.
His more than 15 years of enterprise technology leadership also includes time as an infrastructure leader for BBVA bank and serving as CTO for HC3.
“Jeremy’s experience in building web and mobile platforms, especially in Fintech environments, was an immediate reason to get him to join,” Autosled co-founder and chief revenue officer David Sperau said in a news release.
“His ability to build structure and processes will create a collaborative and effective culture for Autosled to revolutionize automotive logistics.”
Last week, Autosled named a vice president of business development (Bart Schuster) as well as a vice president of data and analytics (David Darden).
Following its acquisition of America's Auto Auction, XLerate Group has brought the Auction Credit Enterprises (ACE) and XL Funding (XLF) floor plan finance companies under common leadership.
XLerate — which is the parent company of America’s Auto Auction and XLerate Auctions, Liquid Motors as well as the two aforementioned floor plan providers — has named Chris Burton the president of both ACE and XLF.
He was previously ACE’s chief operating officer, but will now head up both floor plan companies.
“Chris helped ACE grow its footprint from five to 14 markets served and enhanced the customer experience by establishing a dealer portal,” XLerate chief executive officer Cam Hitchcock said in a news release. “These efforts led to a three-fold increase in ACE’s loan portfolio and six-fold increase in their earnings.”
He added: “We’re happy to have Chris’ industry expertise and strong leadership as we integrate these two floorplan companies. His talents will enhance our ongoing commitment to introduce products and services that facilitate growth for our dealer customers.”
XLerate closed its purchase of America’s Auto Auction last month, a deal initially announced in December that also brough America’s ACE property under its umbrella.
Burton joined the America’s organization in 2015, following time with KPMG.
“With both ACE and XLF providing services for floor plan financing, integrating our resources will benefit current customers and pave the way for future growth,” said Burton. “I am honored to lead these companies and plan to focus our vision going forward on the continued evolution of our customer experience and service offerings.”
