May 30, 2014
Urvaksh Karkaria
Staff Writer- Atlanta Business Chronicle
Vehcon acquires Car Demander assets
Atlanta-based vehicle telematics startup Vehcon Inc. has acquired the assets of Orlando-based Car Demander, an online vehicle shopping service. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Vehcon, an Advanced Technology Development Center(ATDC) Select company, develops technologies that allow sensor-packed smartphones to collect much of the data that hardware-based telematics systems monitor. The smartphone-based approach can deliver 80 percent of the predictive data of an on-board telematic device, at about 10 percent of the cost, according to the company.
Car Demander’s technologies will improve Vehcon’s suite of mileage-verification and automotive life cycle software that serve the usage-based insurance, vehicle sales, automotive data, extended warranty and car care industries, according to a statement.
“Car Demander’s proprietary technologies create an innovative platform to make the vehicle purchasing process more consumer- and privacy-centric,” Joe Fuller, Vehcon co-founder and chief technology officer, said in the statement.
Car Demander’s technology allows a consumer to input what they are looking for in a car, and returns “best offers” on matching vehicles from participating dealers. Car buyers can then decide which dealers they want to respond to, keeping personal information private from all but those dealers. This eliminates spam and other unwanted contact.
“The Car Demander solution integrates seamlessly into near-term offerings that Vehcon will introduce into the market starting in Q4 2014,” Vehcon co-founder and CEO Fred Blumer said in a statement.
Vehcon’s smartphone application captures data in five categories — including odometer readings, seasonality of vehicle usage and location data — that it shares with auto insurance companies and vehicle maintenance shops with consumers’ permission. Motorists receive incentives for sharing the vehicle data with Vehcon’s partners.