Carketa raises $1.375M seed funding to help car buyers and used car dealerships connect better and faster

We live in an age where buying used cars online is easier than ever. Buying used cars online is a cheaper alternative to traditional dealerships, as it excludes many costs that are charged by traditional car dealers, and savings are eventually passed on to buyers. However, buying cars online comes with its own sets of challenges and horror stories. Enter CarKeta, a Utah-based tech startup transforming the car buying experience by giving car buyers the information they need to make a decision before you leave their house.

CarKeta helps car buyers and used car dealerships connect better and faster. Its mission for Green Light Auto Inspections revolves around transparency. CarKeta performs 60 inspection categories and 200 points of inspection on every Green Light Inspected vehicle so you can know exactly what’s under the hood when buying your next used vehicle.

Today, Carketa announced it has closed a $1.375 million seed round financing to expand sales to independent and franchise dealers nationwide. The round was led by Crosslink Capital with additional funding from Hack VC.

Founded in 2019, Carketa’s mission is to help independent and franchise car dealers sell more cars faster on-line. Carketa’s initial footprint was limited to Utah based independent car dealers. “With this funding, Carketa is expanding sales to independent and franchise dealers nationwide,” said Carketa CEO Brady Thurgood.

Jason Berry co-founder also owns Action Auto, one of Utah’s fastest-growing independent car dealerships. Carketa was formed to dramatically improve the reconditioning (Recon) process to simply sell more cars per month. Jason’s experience with existing recon solutions as they are outdated and clunky. Carketa Recon is dynamically reconfigurable to match any dealer’s current process and tightly coupled with the Carketa Condition Report, a 200+ point inspection system detailing car’s current condition. Dealers need a Current Condition Report to sell on-line.

Crosslink Capital is based in San Francisco, California. Jim Feuille, Partner at Crosslink explains, “We’re excited to lead the seed round for Carketa. We have been impressed by what the team accomplished in a short period of time and look forward to supporting their vision to produce better car dealer solutions as car sales move on-line.” Crosslink’s focus is on investments in digital media, Internet services, financial technology & business services.

Carketa is also expanding its sales team across the country and Canada. “We’re excited about what the next 12-18 months hold for Carketa,” Thurgood says. “Online car selling is a significant change in auto retailing. We are fortunate to be in a position to help dealers deliver a more efficient car selling experience. Research shows 90% of car buyers do their research on-line.”

Carketa Recon is easy to use, automating the recon process, eliminating bottlenecks, helping dealers sell more cars faster. With CarKeta Recon a dealer can upload their inventory from their Dealer Management Software (DMS), manage their cars from the auction to the customer, with active inventory management, vehicle valuations and with Carketa Connect, dealers and customers can track the car through the Recon process, often selling the car before it’s on the line. “Carketa has helped my dealership set record-setting sales months even through COVID-19.” says Berry.