Author: Tom Leathes

• Motorway is valued at over $1bn in a new funding round of $190m, co-led by Index Ventures and ICONIQ Growth, with existing investors Latitude, Unbound and BMW i Ventures also participating
• Motorway has seen 300% YOY growth and is on a run-rate to deliver more than $2bn in sales over the next 12 months
• Company also announces the appointment of James Wilson, former Director of Marketplace Fulfillment at Amazon UK, as Chief Operating Officer 

Motorway, the UK’s fastest growing used car marketplace, has today achieved unicorn status with a valuation of over $1bn following a $190m Series C funding round. 

The round is led by Index Ventures, backers of Deliveroo, Etsy and Dropbox, and ICONIQ Growth, a leading Silicon Valley technology investment firm and partners of Collibra, Miro and Wolt. Existing investors Latitude, Unbound and BMW i Ventures also participated in the round. 

Revolutionising the used car market

Motorway enables customers to quickly and easily sell their car for the best price from the comfort of home using only a smartphone. With a network of 5,000 professional car dealers using the platform to directly bid on these vehicles, Motorway helps customers sell their car for up to £1,000 more in as little as 24 hours – while supporting its car dealer partners to acquire the best used car stock online.

Motorway’s rapid growth 

Motorway’s continued focus on product innovation and improving the customer experience meant it was well positioned to capitalise on the behavioural change driven by the pandemic, with both dealers and car owners increasingly seeking to buy and sell cars online. As a result, Motorway recorded a 300% uplift in third-quarter sales to $411 million compared with $105 million last year.

Over 100,000 used cars have been sold on Motorway since launch, with over 8,000 cars currently being sold a month and a new sale being agreed every five minutes. This recent surge in sales puts Motorway on a run-rate to deliver over $2bn in completed sales over the next year, making it one of the world’s fastest growing online used car marketplaces.

Investment in the customer experience

This new $190m investment will be used to hire the best tech talent and build a world-class team across the business, focussed on improving the customer experience and making Motorway the definitive way for people to sell their cars.  The team is expected to grow from 250 to over 350 over the next 12 months.

​​Along with the investment round, Motorway is also announcing the appointment of James Wilson, former Director of Marketplace Fulfillment for Amazon UK, as Chief Operating Officer. James brings significant experience in online commerce for both consumers and businesses, delivering world-class customer experiences at scale. This follows Motorway’s appointment of Lloyd Page (formerly of Moneysupermarket and John Lewis) as Chief Marketing Officer earlier this year.

Tom Leathes, CEO of Motorway, says:

“In 2017, we set out to reinvent how people sell their cars, transforming a broken offline process by introducing a superior online experience. Our team has dedicated themselves to this mission through unprecedented times – enabling us to turn a traditionally lose-lose market into a win-win for our customers and dealer partners.

“We’re now completing over 8,000 car sales a month. That’s a big number, but still less than one percent of UK used car sales – so there’s massive opportunity ahead. We’re thrilled to be working with the teams at Index, ICONIQ and the other investors in this new funding round. It will help us scale even faster, as we strive to build the best technology team in Europe, and change the used car selling experience for the better.”

Danny Rimer, Partner at Index Ventures, says:

“Since joining the board, following our initial investment in June, I have experienced first-hand just how fast Motorway is growing and how agile the team is in scaling the business to support this incredible growth.  Strong leadership, coupled with great technology to fuel an incredibly powerful platform, has enabled Motorway to step up a gear and move into the fast lane –  they’ve taken advantage of the strong market conditions and changing consumer and dealer behaviour to become the go-to place for people selling their car.” 

Yoonkee Sull, Partner at ICONIQ Growth says:

“The used car market’s move online is only accelerating and we believe Motorway is delivering the best consumer experience and the most differentiated supply to dealers in the UK. We believe that while Motorway has already exhibited exceptional growth, the company is just at the beginning of its journey. We are thrilled to support the entire Motorway team in their mission to become the most trusted brand and destination for used car transactions for years to come.”

Motorway previously raised $67.7m in a Series B round in June 2021. This latest investment brings its all-time raise to $273m since it was founded by serial entrepreneurs Tom Leathes, Harry Jones and Alex Buttle in 2017. With offices in London and Brighton, the team has since grown to 250, more than half of whom are in the technology, design or product development teams.

• Motorway’s four-year old online marketplace connects consumers selling their car with professional car dealers acquiring stock
• 65,000 used cars have been sold on Motorway, with currently a new sale agreed every 10 minutes
• More than 5,000 dealers across the UK compete to offer the best price, and the car is collected in as little as 24 hours
• Sales in the last 12 months have tripled, with 300% growth expected in 2021
• Index Ventures leads Motorway’s Series B financing, joined by BMW i Ventures, Unbound and others

Motorway, the UK’s fastest-growing way to sell your car, has raised £48m in venture capital investment.

The Series B round is led by Index Ventures (backers of Deliveroo, Etsy and Dropbox) and also includes additional new investors BMW i Ventures and Unbound. Existing investors Latitude and Marchmont Ventures also participated in the funding round. Danny Rimer, partner at Index Ventures will now join Motorway’s board. 

Motorway’s growth to date

Motorway has completed over 65,000 car sales through its website since it started in 2017 and has seen sales rapidly increase over the last year to more than £50m in May 2021 alone. Currently a sale is agreed on Motorway every ten minutes. The company is completing over £2.5m of transactions a day and more than 4,000 completed car sales a month. With over 10,000 5-star reviews on TrustPilot, Motorway is projecting to hit over £650m in sales in 2021, more than triple its performance in 2020.

The way to sell your car

Motorway helps consumers to sell their car for up to £1,000 more from the comfort of home. It’s simple, fast and free – a car can be profiled and uploaded onto the Motorway website using only a smartphone. Over 5,000 professional car dealers can then bid for the vehicle in a daily online auction, with the highest offer winning the car. Their car is then collected for free by the winning dealer in as little as 24 hours. 

Cutting out the middlemen and moving the whole process online, Motorway removes the hassle and the haggle, helping car sellers and car dealers get a better deal fast, and all entirely remotely.

The used car market is accelerating online

Consumers and car dealers are embracing the internet to replace traditional offline and in-person car selling transactions. Motorway estimates that by the end of 2020, 5% of all vehicles were sold online – up from 1% at the start of the year. Motorway believes this will reach 20%+ as the car industry catches up with others that have already made the online transition.

While new car sales have seen a five year slump in the past year, the used car market has consistently been on the rise, with demand for used cars increasing month on month. On average, used car prices on Motorway have risen +8.2% in May versus six months ago in November. And with new car supply expected to be constrained ongoing, the buoyant used car market will continue to boom.

Investment into UK tech talent

This £48m investment will enable Motorway to significantly expand its product and engineering teams to introduce more products that improve the experience of online car sales, as well as investing in marketing to drive even greater awareness. The current 160-strong team will grow to over 200 by the end of the year, providing further jobs for the best UK talent in the months ahead.

Tom Leathes, CEO of Motorway, says:

“For half a century, inefficient offline processes have led to bad deals and a bad experience for both car sellers and car dealers. Motorway has fundamentally changed a broken experience where everyone ends up dissatisfied – and we’ve transformed it with a superior online experience where everybody wins. Cutting out the middlemen leaves both the consumer and car dealer with a better deal, all from home and without the stress. Our incredible growth so far is testament to our focus on delivering more value through technology – and this investment will provide us with the fuel to take Motorway to the next level.  

“We’re thrilled to be working with Index and the other investors in this round, and Danny Rimer’s huge technology experience and passion for our journey ahead makes him a great addition to the team.”

Danny Rimer, Partner at Index Ventures, says:

“We’re always looking to invest in companies that are truly disrupting an industry and meeting a real customer need. We have found that in Motorway. The team has built an incredibly powerful platform, underpinned by great technology and a deep understanding of the challenges both consumers and car dealers face. Motorway has quickly become the first port of call for tens of thousands of people selling their car.” 

Motorway has previously raised £14m in venture funding since it was founded by serial entrepreneurs Tom Leathes, Harry Jones and Alex Buttle in 2017. The team has since grown to 160 people across its offices in London, Brighton and remotely around the world. 

For more information, please contact press@motorway.co.uk.

Rapid growth leads to referral partnership with MoneySuperMarket 

• 4x YoY sales growth: Mar 20 – Mar 21
• Over £500m in sales transactions in the last year – £2.5m in car sales a day 
• Upwards of 4,000 car sales a month
• Record of £10m in weekly sales in Mar 21
• 2.5m consumers registered on the platform
• Doubled headcount in a year to 130

Motorway, the UK’s fastest-growing online marketplace for used cars, today reveals its revenues have more than tripled in size in a year as it plays a key role in the digital transformation of the auto trade industry.

The three year old startup connects consumers looking to sell their car with car dealers looking to acquire stock.  By removing the traditional middlemen and moving the process entirely online, Motorway’s service gets the best deal for both parties rapidly.

As millions of consumers go online to sell their car and dealers turn their back on physical auctions in favour of a digital alternative, Motorway has seen rapid YoY sales growth, generating £2.5m of car sales a day and completing over £500m in sales transactions in the last year. This translates to upwards of 200 sales a day and 4,000+ sales a month, with sales in the last week of March hitting a record £10m. 

While national lockdowns due to COVID-19 have accelerated its growth, Motorway’s continued efforts to improve the customer experience through its powerful technology platform have ensured sales have tripled in just 12 months.  There are now 2.5m registered UK consumers on the platform and the number of verified dealers in its nationwide network has doubled to over 3,000. 

Motorway’s strong financial performance has been matched with increasing its headcount to 130, double that of the previous year. 

On the back of this growth, Motorway has now agreed a referral partnership with MoneySuperMarket that will drive visitors to sell their car through Motorway. Visitors to MoneySuperMarket interested in selling their car can click straight through to Motorway to receive an instant valuation based on their latest data. Motorway will then find the best offer from over 3,000 verified dealers and will sell the car for free in as little as 24 hours.  

Tom Leathes, CEO of Motorway, says:

“The car industry is undergoing a massive transformation towards digital and the incredible growth we have delivered in the last year demonstrates that Motorway is at the absolute heart of this. Providing car sellers with a fast and convenient way to sell their car for the best price, without leaving home has resonated with millions of people across the UK. And now, through our new partnership with MoneySuperMarket, we will bring our service to an even greater audience, as we continue our mission to ensure selling a car becomes more efficient and enjoyable for everyone involved.

“With major investment in our technology, team and service, we’re now completing over 4,000 successful car sales a month for sellers and dealers, completely remotely.  So why would anyone ever go back?”

Kate Devine, Head of Car Insurance at MoneySuperMarket said:

“Our mission is to help households save money and our new partnership with Motorway gives us another way to do just that, expanding our offer.  Motorway are reinventing the way people sell their cars online, helping those selling their cars to find a great deal by comparing offers from thousands of dealers.  Motorway’s product simplifies the process of selling a car, taking away the hassle with their innovative approach, meaning many people can sell their car in as little as 24 hours, with free home collection and instant payment.”

Hugo Burge, Investor and Non-Executive Chairman of Motorway, says:

“The global pandemic has forced companies everywhere to be more agile, more relevant and more customer-focused. Internet brands are built on these pillars and Motorway is a powerful example of how to do it right. Rather than with a huge marketing spend to date, their accelerated growth has been driven by combining a great product with amazing reviews and incredible word of mouth. This impressive financial performance demonstrates that their commitment to making the market more transparent to find everyone a good deal is really paying off.”

Motorway, the UK’s fastest-growing online marketplace for used cars has appointed Lloyd Page as its first CMO.

For the last two years, Page has been Marketing Director at MoneySuperMarket where he played an integral role in the brand relaunch and Get Money Calm brand positioning, including the introduction of the Money Calm Bull creative platform. Page will now be spear-heading the execution of Motorway’s brand vision and marketing strategy, turning Motorway into a household name.  

Lloyd Page began his career at Virgin Trains in 2000, before taking on a global role at Vodafone. He then transitioned into senior brand and digital marketing roles at John Lewis. He joined Virgin Media as Director of Brand and Brand Communications in 2016, until 2018 when he moved to MoneySuperMarket.

Page has joined Motorway, a fast-growing digital disruptor of the car market, at a time when the brand has seen unprecedented growth – completing thousands of car sales a month as more consumers than ever flock to the platform to sell their car to a verified dealer in a fast and contact-free manner.  The team has doubled to over 100 staff in the last year. 

Tom Leathes, CEO of Motorway, says:

“Lloyd is joining us at a time when the car industry is undergoing a massive transformation towards digital and Motorway is at the absolute heart of this. We’ve always been a 100% online business, helping customers sell their car quickly, conveniently and for the best price, without leaving home.

“We’ve had an incredible year of growth and development and now it’s time to take our brand to the next level. That’s where Lloyd comes in. His big brand experience from John Lewis and Virgin Media through to MoneySuperMarket is the perfect combination of what we need – a brand and customer-led marketing guru, combined with unparalleled digital expertise.”

Lloyd Page, CMO of Motorway, says:

“The global pandemic has been a challenging time for most brands – finding a way to solve a real customer need and execute on this has been the key to driving brand engagement and business growth.  And Motorway has nailed this – they’ve disrupted an industry that was in desperate need of modernising and they’ve simplified the confusing and time-consuming process of selling a car, as well as making it safer during national lockdowns. 

“Whilst we will continue to be restless in developing our offer, the customer proposition and outcome Motorway provides drives real customer value. So our next step will be to scale up and evolve our brand and marketing strategy, making Motorway the first port of call for anyone looking to sell a used car.”

The coronavirus pandemic has caused changes to every UK industry in the past couple of months, and the car trade is no different. Since lockdown restrictions were put in place, it’s not been possible to sell your car easily, with dealerships closing their doors, and car transactions deemed non-essential.

To adhere to the lockdown restrictions and ensure the safety of all our customers and staff, Motorway decided to pause trading for the duration of the March to May 2020 lockdown. 

There’s now light at the end of the tunnel. As all of us in the car industry see restrictions lifting, Motorway has been working hard behind the scenes to ensure that when we help our customers buy and sell cars, we do so in a safe, responsible way – and still make sure everyone gets the best possible deal.

This post outlines how we’re ensuring the safety of all our car sellers and buying partners for the challenging months ahead.

A good deal is now a safe deal

Before coronavirus, a great deal on a car meant three things: the right price, a quick process, and minimum hassle for all involved. Since 2017, Motorway has been helping people achieve this by bringing all the best buyers together in one place, providing instant offers to sellers of every kind of car, and making sure buyers are connected to the right seller, instantly.

Now, with the coronavirus pandemic continuing to affect all of us for the foreseeable future, we need to add the safety of sellers and buyers as a key factor in every offer we present.

Contact-free transactions for everyone

We have worked with every buyer on the Motorway platform – from online buyers, to major dealer groups and independent dealerships, to ensure they can all buy cars from sellers in a compliant, contact-free process.

We will now only show deals on Motorway where we know the buyer is able to transact in this way. To make this extra clear, we have outlined the detail of each buyer’s guidelines where we can, with links to more information where available.

Motorway’s contact-free code of conduct

For individual car dealers on our Motorway Pro auction platform, we’ve put together a Code of Conduct, which everyone has to adhere to in order to buy from our sellers. 

This ensures that the collection will happen according to a strict set of guidelines to protect both the buyer and the seller. You can read this Code of Conduct here.

Making contact-free easy: free transport for every buyer

We know that contact-free vehicle transport poses challenges for some buyers, particularly those that don’t have big in-house logistics teams. We want to support our dealers through this transition, and further ensure the safety of everyone involved. 

So, we are going to be paying for the transport and inspection element on behalf of dealers, for two car purchases for each dealer in the first few weeks after restrictions are lifted. See details of the offer here.

Having two free inspections and collections will provide our dealers a great springboard to get back to trading with one of the biggest cost and hassle removed.

Our team has worked closely with our logistics partner, We Deliver Cars, to offer a consistent, safe process to everyone, and make that as easy as possible for every buyer to get started. And we’re doing this at no cost to the buyer for their first two purchases through Motorway after restrictions are lifted. 

We have thousands of buyers on the Motorway platform to support, so this is a big investment for us. But we felt it was our responsibility to help get the car trade moving again in a safe way, support our buyers and sellers, and do so as quickly as possible.

Getting back to business

This has been a challenging year for every business in the UK. We have been working harder than ever to release lots of great improvements to the platform, make it easier than ever to sell a car, and for dealers to acquire the best stock online. 

We are looking forward to pushing service levels in the industry to new heights as we enter the new normal.

If you have any questions about our service, or how you can ensure your safety when you sell your car, feel free to email our team at any time.

Updated 19/10/2020: All buyers on our platform are completing transactions in a contact-free way.

This post outlines how our service is affected by the current coronavirus situation, and what you can expect if you sign up to compare prices on our website at this time.

Motorway works with major online car buyers and thousands of individual dealerships around the UK to provide a range of instant offers for your car with a single search – helping you find your best deal as quickly as possible.

After the government’s announcement in March of restrictions on movement, much of the car industry stopped trading. These restrictions on movement have now lifted, and buyers and dealers are able to purchase vehicles again following social distancing guidelines.

All buyers on Motorway buy cars in a contact-free manner to keep sellers safe. You can read more about our guidelines for no-contact car selling here.

As well as online car buyers, our Premium Service is also purchasing cars and has been expanded to work with a broader range of vehicles. Using this service, we are able to profile your vehicle, and search for the highest offer from our nationwide network of over 1,500 dealers across the UK.

Some dealers are still closed, but most are now trading with online-only transactions and no-contact collection.

We will update this page regularly as our service changes and more buyers are enabled. Thank you for your patience. As always, our team are on hand to talk to you about the process at any point, and answer any questions.

Please continue to sign up on Motorway here or you can email our team with questions at any time.

• Motorway enables car sellers to compare offers and find the best deal in seconds
• The one-year old company is already driving over 25,000 monthly sales enquiries
• Investors in the seed funding include LocalGlobe, Marchmont Ventures and Zoopla founder Alex Chesterman

London, 05/06/18:​ Motorway (​motorway.co.uk​), the UK’s first price comparison website for selling your car, today announces it has secured £2.75 million in seed funding.

Launched in 2017, Motorway enables car owners to compare multiple instant offers for their vehicle and find the best deal in seconds – bringing speed and transparency to a previously frustrating process.

The UK’s used car market is estimated to be ​worth over £50 billion​ annually, with more than ​8 million used cars sold in 2017​ alone. But the process of selling a car has gone largely unchanged for decades, requiring motorists to drive to multiple car dealers to negotiate a sale, or list on websites like AutoTrader or eBay.

Motorway makes selling a car faster by bringing the options online: consumers enter their car’s registration number and mileage to instantly see multiple offers from car buying services, specialist dealerships and even vehicle recycling firms. They can then compare headline offers, read buyer reviews, collection criteria, fees and payment methods before choosing their best deal.

By comparing offers, consumers can get up to £1,000 more than going directly to one buyer.

Having launched in July 2017, the company has grown rapidly and currently has over 25,000 monthly customer sales enquiries. Motorway’s new funding will enable further development of its software platform, expansion of its network of car buyers and wider promotion of the service throughout the UK.

The seed funding was co-led by leading early-stage VC firm ​LocalGlobe​ and ​Marchmont Ventures​, the venture fund of Hugo Burge (entrepreneur and former CEO of Momondo Group). Alex Chesterman (Zoopla founder and CEO), Duncan Jennings (founder of VoucherCodes.co.uk), and early Spotify investor Shakil Khan also participated in the round.

Motorway was founded by Tom Leathes, Harry Jones and Alex Buttle, an entrepreneurial team that’s worked together for over a decade. They have three successful startups behind them already, including the UK’s biggest broadband price comparison site, which was acquired by uSwitch.

Tom Leathes, CEO & Co-Founder of Motorway said:

“Selling​ ​a​ ​car can be stressful and time-consuming, and it often leaves consumers feeling confused and out of pocket. There’s a real perception that you need to be a car expert to get a good deal, and that needs to change.

“Motorway makes it easy for everyone to compare the market and find the best deal for their car – and for dealers to connect with motivated sellers instantly.

With this funding round we’re thrilled to be working with a group of investors with deep experience in price comparison – and who share our focus on championing consumers.”

Partner at LocalGlobe, ​Suzanne Ashman​ states​:

“We are very excited to be working with Motorway. Founders Tom, Harry and Alex have a strong track record of building products that help consumers get the best deals.

Creating a compelling experience for people selling their cars is hard. The potential buyers are fragmented with many different online and offline options. Information about the sale process is difficult to find and pricing is often unclear. Motorway’s technology is exceptional and will bring much needed transparency for car owners.”

Director of Marchmont Ventures, ​Hugo Burge​ says:

“We are delighted to be backing a proven team we have gotten to know over many years and are confident that they’ll execute at breakneck speed. Motorway has an exciting opportunity to significantly improve the often opaque, misleading and confusing marketplace for used cars. We believe in their ability to make a genuine difference for consumers, whilst helping the industry to be more efficient, digitally enabled and better trusted.”