Beepi

Beepi
Privately-held company
Industry E-commerce / Car dealer
Founded April 2013
Headquarters Los Altos, California, United States
Key people
 Ale Resnik, Co-founder/CEO, Owen Savir, Co-founder/COO, and Fabrice Grinda, Executive Chairman
Products Secondary online marketplace for cars
Slogan Buying and Selling a Car. More than Improved. Elevated.
Website www.beepi.com

Beepi is a Los Altos, California company offering an online peer-to-peer marketplace for buying and selling used cars,[1] where transactions can be carried out entirely with a smart phone or a PC.[2][3]

Services

Beepi is a peer-to-peer marketplace (see social peer-to-peer processes). Cars undergo an inspection and are listed for a fixed sales price, with Beepi taking up to a 9% commission and buying unsold cars after 30 days.[4][5] While buyers do not personally inspect or test drive the car before purchase, they have a 10-day return window after delivery.[4][6] Buyers have the option to pay in bitcoins, though sellers will receive dollars.[7]

The Beepi business model is to replicate the success of other peer-to-peer marketplaces like peer-to-peer carsharing (Uber), peer-to-peer lending (Lending Club), and peer-to-peer renting (Airbnb) via disintermediation. [8] Disintermediation is the removal of intermediaries in a supply chain, or "cutting out the middlemen". Instead of going through traditional distribution channels, which had some type of intermediate (such as a distributor, wholesaler, broker, or agent), people may now deal with each other directly, for example via the Internet. Beepi's backers include prominent early investors in Uber and Lending Club.[2][9]

History

Beepi was co-founded by CEO Ale Resnik and COO Owen Savir and it launched in April, 2014.[2] Resnik said that he was inspired to create Beepi after a negative experience with a used Jeep Liberty that he purchased while a student at MIT. The used car caught fire and the dealer wouldn’t take it back, so he sued, eventually winning a settlement.[10][11][12]

Investors

Beepi raised a $5 million A round in April 2014, led by Jeff Brody of Redpoint Ventures.[13] The company announced its Series B investment in two tranches. The $60 million tranch raised in October, 2014 included Foundation Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Sherpa Venture and various angel investors.[2] The $12.7 million follow-on investment in December 2014 included the Russian Internet investor Yuri Milner and the largest-ever investment by crowd-funding platform AngelList.[14] Angel investors include Fabrice Grinda, Brian Sharples, and Shervin Pishevar, co-founder of Sherpa Ventures.[2][15][16]

Growth

In October, 2014, the company said it was earning revenue at a $15 million annual run rate.[2] In February, 2015, Wired reported Beepi had 56% growth month-over-month.[17]

Future Plans

Beepi said in October 2014 that it plans to add iPhone and Android apps as well as add finance, insurance, warranty and other financial services through its own financial division.[2]

Regulatory Issues

Beepi is expected to face regulatory resistance and protests from local car dealers in some markets.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Manjoo, Farhad (April 22, 2015). "An Online Tune-Up for the Used-Car Marketplace". The New York Times. Retrieved April 22, 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Chapman, Lizette (October 7, 2014). "The Wall Street Journal". Beepi raises $60 million to sell used cars to the smart. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Next Billion Dollar Start Ups: Beepi". Forbes. April 15, 2015. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Del Rey, Jason (15 April 2014). "Beepi Could Be the Car Buying Site We’ve Been Waiting For". Re/Code. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  5. ↑ Lawler, Ryan (5 September 2015). "Peer-To-Peer Auto Marketplace Beepi Adds A ‘Prime’ Option, Now Shipping To 140 Cities". TechCrunch. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  6. ↑ della Cava, Marco (April 8, 2015). "Beepi brings Uber-like ease to used-car shopping". USA Today. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  7. ↑ Shubber, Kadhim. "Car Marketplace Beepi: Accepting Bitcoin Was 'Logical' Step". CoinDesk. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  8. ↑ Hanft, Adam (23 May 2014). "Finally Someone Is Sending Car Salesmen to the Junkyard: An Interview with Ale Resnik, Co-Founder of Beepi.". Huffington Post. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  9. ↑ Cao, Jing (April 8, 2015). "Beepi Expands Reach of Service That’s Like Zappos for Used Cars". Bloomberg Business Week. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  10. ↑ "MIT Sloan Newsroom". MIT.edu. MIT. October 31, 2014. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  11. ↑ Forbes, Thom (October 8, 2014). "Beep! Beep! Peer-To-Peer Comes To The Used-Car Marketplace". Media Post. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  12. ↑ Sanchez, Maria (November 12, 2014). "Innovadores Menores de 35 / Alejandro Resnki, 32". MIT Technology Review in Spanish. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  13. ↑ Brody, Jeff (April 5, 2014). "Redpoint Ventures". Redpoint. Redpoint. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  14. ↑ Del Rey, Jason (December 30, 2014). "Used Car Site Beepi Lands $12 Million From Yuri Milner and AngelList’s Largest Ever Investment". Re/Code. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Crunchbase". Crunchbase. TechCrunch. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Business Wire". OLX Announces Expansion in Eleven International Markets. September 6, 2014. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  17. ↑ Alba, Davey (9 February 2015). "Follow Wired Twitter Facebook RSS The Next Big Thing You Missed: An Online Used-Car Company You Can Actually Trust". Wired. Retrieved 13 February 2015.

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