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Online used car marketplace: Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) Investment Partners and BMW (OTCPK:BMWYY) i Ventures participated in a $140M Series D round for Shift, an online marketplace for used cars. The round included equity and debt. Lithia Motors led and CEO Bryan DeBoer will join Shift’s board. Previous investors Alliance Ventures, DCM, DFJ, G2VP, and Highland Capital also participated. Shift’s total funding is now over $265M.
Shift’s software platform lets customers shop for cars, receive financing, and schedule test drives. Car owners can sell vehicles that pass “rigorous” inspections. Shift will invest in its tech platform and grow its engineering staff from the current 35 to over 80 by the end of next year. The company says revenue has grown 70% in the past six months and future plans involve expanding beyond Shift’s California base market.
Competitor: Hertz (NYSE:HTZ), which had a partnership with Shift that ended when the car rental company launched its competing product.
