INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Online used car startup Shift Technologies has tacked on another $40 million in equity funding, hired a new COO with Amazon and Enjoy roots
activity, along with what executives have told TechCrunch is a diligent focus on unit economics, is all directed toward a larger objective
to take the company public sometime in 2021.Shift, which is based in San Francisco, serves car buyers and sellers
The company, founded in 2013, has built a software platform that lets customers shop for cars, get financing and schedule test drives
Car owners can use the platform to sell their vehicle, as well
The company is projecting revenues between $220 million and $240 million in 2019, Shift co-CEO Toby Russell told TechCrunch.An IPO is an
aspirational goal, but one both Russell and founder George Arison believe is achievable
Carvana focuses on newer cars between 0 and four years in age
There are 35,000 new and used car dealers in the U.S., most of which are mom-and-pop shops, responsible for about 15 million transactions
TechCrunch.New COOTo get there, Shift has hired a new COO, Sean Foy
The company also raised additional equity as it tries to hire more engineers and other employees and scale up its technology platform.Foy
comes to Shift from Enjoy Technologies, where he was head of operations
In short, using technology to make it easier for the customer to buy or sell a car without making the process overly cumbersome or
possible so that we can attract more and more people onto the the site rather than going to traditional dealerships and giving them a much
equity and debt in a Series D round
The round, which consisted of about $70 million in debt and $71 million in equity, was led by automotive retailer Lithia Motors
the total raise of the Series D round to $180 million
primarily large institutional investors, according to Shift.Shift has already put some of that capital to work
The company said back in September it planned to invest in its technology platform and scale its engineering staff from 35 to more than 80
people by the end of 2019
As of early April, Shift employed 54 engineers
Another nine (all new graduate hires) will start over the summer.The company employs 450 people.
