APFusion, Inc., the leading automotive B2B marketplace and SaaS company focused on modernizing the auto salvage industry, announced today that they have secured $6.5 million in series seed financing bringing the company’s total financing to $7 million. The round was co-led by Left Lane Capital and Bedrock Capital, with continued support from their existing investor, M25.
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APFusion first set out to build a B2B marketplace connecting new aftermarket parts providers with salvage yards, giving salvage yards that primarily sold used inventory unparalleled access to new inventory. In an effort to expand its offering and provide a more holistic experience for customers and the industry, APFusion is also working to expand its platform to include software tools that accompany its marketplace to provide even further value to its customers and the auto salvage industry. By combining its inventory marketplace with high-impact software, APFusion aims to help salvage yards close more sales and become more efficient.
“We couldn’t be happier to be supported by these world-class investors,” said APFusion CEO & Founder Alex Smith. “They could see that APFusion is unique because it’s one of those few companies that get the opportunity to truly make a meaningful positive impact within an industry. A chance to move a technologically underserved industry forward.”
The seed round follows a year of explosive growth for APFusion, whose year-to-date GMV has more than tripled. The APFusion marketplace now offers close to 200,000 products, with the vendor network adding more than 3,500 products per week.
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“Much of the reason for APFusion’s rapid growth over the last year is due to our continued effort to work with our customer base to identify the features and product enhancements that will best support not just our customers but the auto salvage industry as a whole,” stated Smith. “Our highly engaged customers have helped guide our path as a company, and we are extremely grateful to have additional capital behind us to continue to build and expand our offerings.”
“When we think about industries that have generally been untouched by software, the auto salvage yard world ranks as one of the most antiquated,” mentioned Derek Urben, an Investor at Left Lane Capital, who is joining the APFusion Board of Directors. “APFusion has already experienced impressive traction, and the industry’s stakeholders are realizing the power that software and digital marketplace experiences can have. We are excited to partner with Alex and the APFusion team to bring world-class tools to an industry that has generally flown under the radar. Alex’s background and industry expertise make him arguably the single best person to take on this challenge.”
APFusion plans to use its funds to build out its organizational infrastructure with a focus on its engineering division. In doing so, the company plans on expanding the number of products available in the marketplace, continuing to build the necessary tools to ensure each customer has a world-class experience with every single transaction and offering additional software tools that help salvage yards become more efficient in their day-to-day operations.
“When we first met Alex and heard the story around APFusion, we weren’t surprised that it was this Champaign-based startup that had discovered this unique problem in an overlooked industry – we’re used to seeing that,” commented M25 Managing Partner, Victor Gutwein. “What shocked us was the massive size of the industry and the insane speed of growth and adoption among eager customers. Alex and the team had clearly set themselves apart and hit the product-market-fit sweet spot.”
“APFusion has been a game-changer for our sales team, having an Aftermarket and Surplus catalog integrated into our YMS has made a huge difference in our ability to say yes to the customer,” said Gabe Givens, Inventory Manager at Counselman Automotive Recycling. “The automated interface that generates the ticket and PO# in our system with a few simple clicks, combined with the unique advantage of on-screen pricing and hourly updates populating into our system has allowed us to change the way we sell parts from outside inventory. The time we have saved not having to call multiple vendors and check alternate supplier websites has been a great simplifier in generating sales. The drop ship directly to customers takes the ‘delivery’ cost off of our local trucks and has been a win for us with fuel prices continuing to surge.”
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