Numa Obtains $32 Million to Drive AI-Powered Auto Dealer Platform
Numa, an artificial intelligence (AI) platform for auto dealerships, announced it has secured $32 million in a Series B funding round.
Numa will use the funding to expand its AI engineering team, accelerate product development and continue its mission to power AI-native dealerships, the company said in a Tuesday (Oct. 1) news release.
“We are building the AI-native dealership — re-architecting how dealerships run at their core,” said Tasso Roumeliotis, CEO and co-founder at Numa.
“Our AI agents not only handle repetitive tasks like booking appointments and giving status updates, but also more complex ones like rescuing dissatisfied customers and unlocking trade-ins. Numa activates a total transformation for every dealership, making their operations and communications smarter, faster, and more customer-centric.”
The round was led by Touring Capital, a growth-stage firm focused on AI-powered software, and Mitsui & Co., a “global conglomerate generating $1.2 billion in annual profit from automotive and mobility,” according to the release. Existing investors Costanoa Ventures, Threshold and Google’s AI-focused venture fund, Gradient Ventures, also participated in the round, according to the release.
Numa noted that U.S. auto dealership industry is expected to grow 4% through 2028, but continues to be bogged down by outdated systems that slow down workers and frustrate customers.
“Numa’s AI agents streamline operations and communications, reducing average customer response times from 23 hours to just 13 minutes and increasing repair order dollars per service adviser by over 35%,” the company said in the release.
This fresh injection of money comes as the forecast looks dim across the broader automotive industry, PYMNTS reported on Tuesday.
Most major automakers are due to report quarterly earnings Tuesday, and industry forecasts expect sales to be flat compared to last year. Citing a report from The Wall Street Journal, PYMNTS noted that car companies are potentially on track to close the year with U.S. vehicle sales of about 15.7 million. In contrast, automakers reported sales of at least 17 million vehicles in the five years prior to the pandemic.
Sticker shock may be driving consumers away, as new car prices averaged $44,467 in September, nearly $10,000 higher than in 2019.
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