Social Auto Transport Closes $1.5M Seed Round Led by Overline
Funding will be used to expand the automobile-moving gig economy platform to six new markets in the next two quarters, beginning with Philadelphia today and Atlanta next month
RICHMOND, Va., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Social Auto Transport, Inc., a gig economy platform that helps automotive companies efficiently move vehicles, today announced the closing of its $1,500,000 seed funding round.
Social Auto Transport was founded in 2018 to help automotive companies avoid the hassle and decrease the cost of moving cars short distances. The company's flagship product lets dealers offer on-demand service pickup and delivery to a customer's home or office, without the expense of hiring, training, and insuring their own staff.
Customers overwhelmingly prefer the convenience, time saving, and lack of stress of at-home service pickup, as compared to traveling to a dealership and waiting for their car to be serviced or repaired. Social Auto's dealer customers see a significant increase in the average size of repair orders, resulting from the additional time they get to thoroughly diagnose and repair issues without keeping customers waiting in the dealership.
"Working together in the automotive and logistics spaces over the last decade, Rob and I witnessed firsthand the many inefficiencies in the short-haul transportation of cars," said Nick Mottas, co-founder and CEO of Social Auto Transport. "We built Social Auto to make short distance car moves quick, easy and affordable for dealers, repair shops and fleet operators. Our customers love the convenience of our on-demand, turnkey model, and they consistently benefit from a revenue increase when using our platform."
The seed funding round was led by Overline (https://overline.vc), an Atlanta-based seed-stage venture capital firm that focuses on startups in the Southeast. Other investors include Automotive Ventures, Estes Express Lines, and Kevin Nolan, founder of Nolan Transportation Group and OTR Capital.
Michael Cohn, Managing Partner of Overline said, "We are thrilled to partner with the Social Auto team. We see tremendous opportunity to build a nationwide network for moving cars short distances with highly trained, licensed and insured gig economy drivers. With consumer interest in concierge service offerings increasing dramatically as a result of COVID, we see at-home pickup and delivery quickly moving from a competitive advantage for early-adopter dealers to a competitive must-have."
Social Auto currently operates in the Richmond and Charlotte markets and will use the seed funding to rapidly expand across the U.S., beginning with Philadelphia today and Atlanta in February. Following these two launches, Social Auto will launch in four additional cities over the next two quarters.
"This seed fundraise is wholly focused on helping us push toward new market expansion and penetration," said Rob Newton, co-founder and CTO of Social Auto Transport. "When assessing the viability of a market, we look at factors like number of potential customers and need for our service. Both large, logistically-complicated cities, Philadelphia and Atlanta emerged as high target markets for this next phase of our growth. We know that once we get our feet on the ground, our end-to-end turnkey service will become invaluable to local dealers and help us penetrate these cities."
"We continue to see tremendous innovation and opportunity in the automotive and logistics industries, which are key focus areas for our fund," said Sean O'Brien, Managing Partner of Overline. "We love the value that Social Auto provides to all of its stakeholders, including their dealer customers and consumers, as well as their drivers, who make more on average than when driving for traditional gig platforms—with the added security of a more predictable wage. There are also significant driver benefits that come from moving cars instead of people, which we believe make Social Auto an attractive option for drivers that are uncomfortable transporting strangers and putting significant mileage on their personal cars."
The Social Auto platform is live in Richmond, Charlotte, and as of today, Philadelphia. Dealers interested in the company's services can learn more here (https://www.socialautotransport.com/dealers-overview). Individuals interested in working as a driver for Social Auto can apply here (https://www.socialautotransport.com/driver-overview).
About Social Auto Transport, Inc.
Richmond-based Social Auto Transport (https://www.socialautotransport.com) offers a gig economy platform that facilitates moving cars for auto dealers, repair shops, fleets, and rental agencies. The Company is building a nationwide marketplace that provides automotive companies a reliable short-haul service to move sales inventory, make operational moves, and provide concierge pickup and delivery services to their customers, on demand—without the expense, time burden, and liability required to offer these services with their own staff. The Company currently operates in Richmond, Charlotte, and Philadelphia, and will continue to add new markets across the U.S. each month.
About Overline
Overline (https://overline.vc/) is a founder/operator-led venture capital firm, based in Atlanta, that focuses on early-stage investments in the Southeast. Its inaugural fund, Overline Seed Fund I, LP, is a generalist fund that leads pre-seed and seed investments across multiple industries and business models. Overline takes a hands-on approach to supporting its portfolio companies, providing key introductions to its network of prospective customers, partners, investors and top talent.
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Contact
Nick Mottas
Co-Founder / CEO
https://www.socialautotransport.com/
[email protected]
Media Contact
Nick Mottas, Social Auto Transport, Inc, +1 804-539-7977, [email protected]
SOURCE Social Auto Transport, Inc
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