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Image credits: Bumper

Bumper (formerly Auto Service Finance), a London-based Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) platform for car repairs, announced that it has raised $12M (approx €10.6M) funding in a Series A round led by Silicon Valley-based Autotech Ventures. 

Other investors, including Jaguar Land Rover’s fund InMotion Ventures and a group of prominent angel investors, also participated. To date, the company has raised $17.5M (approx €15.5M) in funding. 

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James Jackson, CEO, and co-founder of Bumper, says, “The current process for handling car repairs is broken on both sides, with dealerships selling just 40% of identified repairs and drivers left out of pocket and with dangerous vehicles. Bumper offers a simple alternative to unexpected car repairs. It’s a very different proposition to other Buy Now Pay Later services, as we’re not encouraging people to buy things they don’t need, we’re enabling them to purchase necessary repairs at an affordable rate. We’ve seen huge demand for expanding the services we offer and are looking forward to bringing Bumper to customers across Europe.”

Fund utilisation

The company intends to use the funds to expand its car repair financing platform across Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands in the next three months. Bumper is also planning to be in every European market by 2022. 

Part of the funding will be used to hire in these new markets, scale the tech team, and marketing efforts. 

The UK company is also planning to launch a consumer app, which will act as a one-stop-shop for all automotive requirements such as payments for congestion charges, parking and tolls, and approving repair work.

Buy Now Pay Later for car repairs

Founded by Jack Allman and James Jackson, Bumper’s BNPL platform offers interest-free flexible payments and a fully automated platform for financing and managing car repairs. 

Around 60 per cent of the franchised UK dealer market currently uses its payment platform, including Volkswagen Group, Ford, Jaguar Land Rover, and Nissan.

The company has developed a Machine Learning-enabled automotive scorecard to avoid loan defaults from both consumers and dealerships. It includes accessing the dealerships’ APIs to source customer information quickly and without laborious application processes.  

For automotive partners, using Bumper’s payment solution increases repair conversion rates and reduces discounting and price negotiation. The company charges a small transaction fee to the dealerships in exchange for providing the full cost of the repair upfront. 

Investors

InMotion Ventures is Jaguar Land Rover’s venture capital fund. The company invests in the future of transport and travel.

Alex Smout, Principal at InMotion Ventures, says, “Buy Now Pay Later is the fastest growing online payment method globally. Bumper’s market-leading proposition will benefit millions of consumers who need more flexibility when paying for crucial repairs. The technology seamlessly integrates with the existing systems of dealerships and OEMs, which combined with rigorous credit checking, offers merchants and dealerships a level of security previously unseen in the industry. We’re looking forward to working with the Bumper team and supporting the expansion of the business across Europe.”

Based out of California, Autotech Ventures is a venture capital firm focusing on the ground transportation sector.

Alexei Andreev, Managing Director of Autotech Ventures, says, “We are very excited about the Buy Now Pay Later business model, which has empowered consumers all over the world. We believe that automotive repairs and the aftermarket are the next big BNPL frontiers, and that modern software and clever financial tools can unlock substantial value for industry participants. The Bumper team has succeeded in building an industry-leading product in the UK and we are eager to support its expansion to Continental Europe. Bumper’s business ties with leading automotive OEMs, deep integration with dealerships, and repair quotation tools create formidable entry barriers for other players. Autotech Ventures is fully committed to providing business development resources and bringing new partnerships to accelerate Bumper’s growth.”