Automotive manufacturer Daimler has made a strategic investment in AutoGravity, the US-based operator of an online buying and financial services comparison platform for vehicles.
The amount provided by Germany-based Daimler, which supplied the funding through its Daimler Financial Services unit, was not disclosed, though Reuters reported that its size was in the double-digit million euro range (€1 = $1.05).
Founded in late 2015, AutoGravity has developed an app that enables users to browse and choose cars from different manufacturers and then select from a range of payment plans.
AutoGravity’s app was launched in California in mid-2016 in partnership with another Daimler subsidiary, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA, and has now been downloaded more than 150,000 times.
The company, which now also provides leases and used-car financing to customers, disclosed the funding weeks after it rolled out its platform to a total of 46 US states.
Bodo Uebber, the Daimler board member responsible for Daimler Financial Services, said: “With our investment in AutoGravity, we are now taking the strategic step of preparing the conventional financing and leasing business for digital sales channels.
“We believe AutoGravity and its technology have the potential to revolutionise the sector for online financing while, at the same time, offering a digital platform for other financial services providers and automotive manufacturers.”