Vroom collects $146 million in latest funding, eyes expansion with new hires

December 11, 2018 12:00 AM

Upstart online used-car retailer Vroom announced Tuesday it has raised $146 million in its latest round of funding, including a previously reported $50 million from AutoNation Inc. The balance of $96 million came from several smaller, core investors.

The financial infusion will help Vroom polish its technology and expand marketing efforts in a bid to attract more customers, company officials said.

Vroom, founded in 2013, has spent the last few years positioning itself for growth, CEO Paul Hennessy said, and is now ready to go for a larger piece of the fragmented online used-vehicle volume. The company is doing test marketing on TV, radio and online featuring a revamped branding strategy.

"We're really marketing and scaling the business," Hennessy said.

The new money also will go toward expanding Vroom's management team.

The company announced it has hired Dave Jones as CFO. Jones, 49, worked at Penske Automotive Group for more than a decade, where he was most recently CFO. Vroom appointed Dennis Looney as chief supply chain officer. Looney, 56, had been chief supply chain and procurement officer at hardware supplier Prime-Line. Vroom also appointed Mitch Berg to the role of chief technology officer. Berg, 56, is former senior vice president of technology for ad tech at video-sharing technology platform Dailymotion.

The investment from AutoNation, the largest new-vehicle retailer in the U.S., is a sign of "validating our model," Hennessy said. The AutoNation funding was announced in October.

Vroom, which delivers vehicles bought on its site to all 50 states, is a "pure e-commerce play," said Hennessy, who was CEO of Priceline before joining Vroom in 2016. Vroom lists more than 3,200 used cars and trucks for sale, most of which are 1 to 3 years old.