BUFFALO, N.Y., Sept. 19, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
-- ACV Auctions today announced that it has raised
$5 million in venture funding, led by
Tribeca Venture Partners, with participation from SoftBank Capital
NY (SBNY), Armory Square Ventures and Rand Capital (Nasdaq: RAND).
In addition, the company appointed Synacor (Nasdaq: SYNC) founder
George Chamoun as Chief Executive.
In conjunction with the financing, Brian
Hirsch from Tribeca Venture Partners and Jordan Levy from SBNY have joined the Board of
Directors.
ACV Auctions is an advanced mobile platform that enables
used-car dealers to view, bid and purchase car inventory via online
auctions. These live auctions are conducted from franchise dealer
lots and last just 20 minutes – this saves dealers time and money.
Traditional car auctions, in comparison, take place off-site in a
physical location with multiple bidding lanes in progress
simultaneously; this makes it difficult to provide transparency on
wholesale vehicles.
George Chamoun has joined the
company as its Chief Executive Officer. He replaces ACV Auctions
Co-founder Joe Neiman, who will
focus on market development.
Chamoun brings with him a successful track record of
accomplishment as an entrepreneur and senior executive. He
co-founded Synacor right out of college in 1998, and spent the next
two decades building it into a trusted technology and revenue
partner for some of the largest video and communication providers
in the world. Chamoun also serves as Chairman of Launch NY, a
non-for-profit organization supporting the startup ecosystem for
Upstate New York.
As an early angel investor in ACV, Chamoun was drawn by the
company's long term potential. Since then, he says, ACV's
performance – and the overwhelmingly positive response of customers
– has further affirmed his confidence in the company.
"In just one year, more than 800 dealerships registered for our
mobile service, proving the value of our highly innovative service
– these are the same reasons we also attracted top venture capital
firms to fuel our growth," Chamoun noted. "We are proving the case
that dealers prefer to purchase wholesale inventory on ACV, because
we enable transparency, trust and faster access to fresh
trades."
He added: "ACV Auctions is to car auctions what broadband was to
dialup: a superior experience by every measure. Our team is proud
to partner with franchise and independent dealers throughout the
country by offering a proven service that adds tremendous value to
their businesses, and to the dealer industry overall."
Brian Hirsch, Tribeca Venture
Partners, said: "Tribeca invests in world class entrepreneurs and
radical innovation -- not incremental improvement. ACV already
proved in its first year that it can transform the wholesale
automotive sector and has a proven team of entrepreneurs that
understand how to build a high growth business."
ACV Auctions Co-founder Joe
Neiman will continue focusing on customers. "Having owned a
used car business myself and spending years buying cars in physical
auctions, I understand the many challenges that dealers face," he
said. "With ACV, we have created a service that significantly
reduces risk for used car dealerships."
ACV was the $1 million winner of
the 2015, 43North startup competition, which each year draws
startup applicants globally. "43North is excited to see ACV
Auctions receive $5 million in
venture funding, and we welcome George
Chamoun as their CEO," said John T.
Gavigan, 43North Executive Director. "We look forward to
seeing ACV Auctions continue to grow and revolutionize the
wholesale auto auction process."
About ACV Auctions
Our mission is to become the most
trusted source in the industry for purchasing wholesale vehicles.
Our product -- the ACV app -- leverages mobile to maximum benefit,
enabling users to take a vehicle condition report and instantly
alert buyers that a 20-minute auction has begun. Simply stated, our
technology modernizes the entire arc of auction operations,
including account management, title management, floor plan
purchasing, arbitration, and facilitating logistics. To learn more,
please visit us at www.acvauctions.com
About 43North
43North is the $5
million startup competition, awarding cash prizes to some of
the best entrepreneurs and startups from around the world. 43North
winners also receive free incubator space in Buffalo for one year, guidance from mentors in
related fields, and access to other business incentive programs
such as START-UP NY. 43North operates through the support of
Governor Andrew Cuomo's Buffalo
Billion initiative and grants of $6
million from the New York Power Authority and $1 million from Empire State Development.
Additional support comes from National Grid and several other
sponsors. For a full list of sponsors and more information about
43North, visit www.43north.org
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SOURCE ACV Auctions