Automotive retail software provider CDK Global led a $45m series B2 round for US-based record-management technology developer Ripcord on Tuesday that included internet group Baidu and internet technology conglomerate Alphabet.
Kleiner Perkins, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Lux Capital, Tyche Partners, Icon Ventures and private investor Steve Wozniak also took part in the round, Alphabet investing through its GV subsidiary.
Ripcord has developed robotics technology that digitises the record maintenance process by scanning large volumes of text on paper records, transferring the information into an organisation’s cloud data repository where it can be located and integrated into its data management practices.
CDK invested through a strategic partnership that will involve it working on products that can help car dealerships maintain accurate information that can help them through the sales and financing process.
Brian Krzanich, CDK’s president and CEO, said: “CDK Global strives to help dealers improve the customer experience in a digital-driven world, and Ripcord’s intelligent approach to digitisation supports our vision and benefits both dealerships and consumers tremendously.”
Ripcord had raised $65m in series B funding as of December 2017 when GV, Kleiner Perkins predecessor Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), Lux Capital and Telstra Ventures, telecommunications firm Telstra’s investment arm, provided $25m.
Icon Ventures, KPCB, Lux Capital and SVB had supplied $25m in equity funding and $15m in debt financing for the first close four months earlier.
The company had disclosed $9.5m in series A funding from KPCB, Lux Capital, Steve Wozniak and Legend Star, part of conglomerate Legend Holdings, when it launched in March the same year.
