Flow Automotive Cos., Pohanka Automotive and Holman had been amongst a number of dealership teams and others who invested $4 million in expertise firm Orbee Inc., whose platform offers knowledge administration and different digital advertising providers for dealerships.
Flow, Pohanka and Holman’s Holman Enterprises arm had been earlier traders. They joined the Series A funding spherical with new traders that included retailers Mills Automotive Group, Qvale Auto Group and Basil Family Dealerships. Auto business skilled Ron Frey and Presidio Group additionally invested within the spherical, which was led by FM Capital.
Presidio moreover served as Orbee’s monetary adviser for the funding spherical, which attracted extra money than initially anticipated.
“We are excited about the confidence shown by both our existing and new investors,” Orbee CEO Atul Patel mentioned in a press release.
Founded in 2016, Orbee, of Irvine, Calif., at present employs 57 individuals. The firm mentioned its expertise reaches greater than 3,000 dealerships by way of direct buyer relationships and partnerships. Plans name for utilizing the enterprise capital infusion primarily for hiring, an Orbee spokesperson instructed Automotive News.
Orbee describes its expertise as middleware software program, which helps totally different purposes used on a platform talk with each other, and knowledge administration.
Orbee’s platform is retail automotive expertise marketed to each franchised and impartial sellers, performing a number of capabilities that fall underneath the umbrella of “customer experience.” It can measure advertising investments with marketing campaign analytics, for instance; one other instrument within the Orbee platform helps customers perceive shopper habits. Orbee’s expertise additionally deploys omnichannel advertising for potential consumers, permits personalised messaging and complies with knowledge privateness legal guidelines, the corporate mentioned.
Use of buyer knowledge platforms akin to Orbee’s within the retail automotive business will solely “expand exponentially” over time, Chase Fraser, managing associate at FM Capital, mentioned in a press release.
“Our investment in Orbee demonstrates our confidence in the potential of this technology,” Fraser mentioned.
Damian Mills, CEO of Mills Automotive Group, mentioned in a press release that higher use of knowledge “can help us elevate our clients’ experiences as they buy vehicles and have them serviced at our dealerships.”
Source: www.autonews.com