Autodaq Corporation, a businesss-to-business e-commerce automotive and remarketing company, has secured an additional $33 million in private financing, led by new investors Madison Dearborn Partners, Inc., based in Chicago, Ill. (www.mdcp.com), and Clayton Venture Group, based in St. Louis, Mo.
August Capital, Autodaq's first-round lead, and Zilkha Ventures, another first-round investor, also participated in this second round of financing. Autodaq has raised more than $38 million in venture capital since its founding in July 1999.
Benjamin Chereskin, Madison Dearborn Partners managing partner, and Sandy Rogers, Enterprise Rent-A-Car senior vice president (representing Clayton Venture Group) have joined Autodaq's board of directors, according to Adam Boyden, president and CEO of Autodaq.
"We are very pleased that Madison Dearborn Partners, a premier private equity firm with a strong record of investing in market-leading and growth companies, is leading our second round of financing and has been joined by August Capital and many of our first round investors," Boyden said.
"This investment is a strong vote of confidence in Autodaq -- in our business, in our future and in our team," Boyden continued. "We now have a firm financial foundation on which to build our long-term commitment to bringing state-of-the-art e-commerce technology and remarketing services to the wholesale automotive industry."
"Three key factors made Autodaq a particularly compelling investment to Madison Dearborn Partners," Chereskin explained. "First, Autodaq has developed and exceptional Internet-based infrastructure and services that can generate significant savings for all participants in the complex wholesale used-car market. Second, the wholesale used-car market, at approximately $100 billion in annual sales, is huge and is still in the early stages of adopting business-to-business Internet technologies and services. And third, we have tremendous confidence in Autodaq management and its team of high-tech, automotive remarketing and auto industry professionals."
"Autodaq's compelling vision continues to be validated by its steady progress in delivering Internet auction and remarketing services to the automotive wholesale market," added David Marquardt, August Capital co-founder and partner. "Buyers who have used Autodaq Internet auction services are excited by the online access to inventories of cars, as well as the ease and efficiency of the system. Sellers who have used Autodaq Internet auction services have been empowered with a tool that strategically targets their markets, while concurrently reducing costs and dramatically compressing sales cycles. For August Capital, that translated into an opportunity worthy of additional investment."
About Autodaq Corporation
Autodaq Corporation is an automotive remarketing company that provides the infrastructure and technology to facilitate the B2B trade of used cars on the Internet, as well as professional remarketing services including remarketing management, lease maturity management, strategic marketing, vehicle sourcing, and sales and leadership training.
For more information, visit www.autodaq.com.
