Numa raises $32 million to develop AI tools for car dealerships

Numa, today a supplier of artificial intelligence software for car showrooms announced that it has closed a Series B investment worth $32 million.

The financing round was co-led by Touring Capital and Mitsui Group, a Tokyo-based conglomerate. The latter company generates part of its revenues from the production of car parts and conducting truck auctions. Several returning backers also participated in the round, including Google LLC’s Gradient Ventures startup fund.

Numa, officially NumberAI Inc., provides a cloud-based platform that promises to increase the efficiency of auto dealerships’ daily operations. The heart of the software is a voice assistant that can receive sales calls and text messages from customers. Once the key details of the inquiry are collected, the artificial intelligence routes them to the dealership employee best placed to respond.

The company says its platform also automates several related tasks. Can analyze sales inquiries to extract customer intent data for use in marketing efforts. Additionally, it manages the process of scheduling visits to the dealership, so employees have more time for other tasks.

While a car is being repaired, dealer mechanics can have Numa send status updates to the customer regarding the maintenance process. Sales representatives, in turn, use software to help them negotiate business deals. These are transactions in which a dealership purchases a customer’s previous vehicle for credits that can be used to purchase a new vehicle.

Preventing potential customers from choosing competing leadership is another task Numa promises to make easier. The platform can send reminders to potential customers who express interest in making a purchase but do not follow up.

Dealers store sales data and other business information in specialized applications called DMS systems. According to Numa, its platform includes integrations that can automatically sync collected opportunity data with the company’s DMS system. This saves time and avoids errors that often occur when entering data manually.

“We are building a dealership natively powered by AI by rearchitecting its operation at its core,” said co-founder and CEO Tasso Roumeliotis.

According to TechCrunchNuma’s installed product base includes approximately 600 car dealerships in the US and Canada. The software maker says it has increased its revenue by more than 2,200% over the past three years thanks to strong demand. Numa is not yet profitable, but is reported to be “almost at cash flow breakeven.”

To maintain its growth, the company plans to increase the rate at which new features are released. It will hire more artificial intelligence engineers, using newly acquired funds to support development activities.

Photo: Numa