A European diamond: carVertical success story continues to inspire other enterprises
European Union institutions once again celebrate the carVertical success story. An article published on European Commission’s official website tells that “carVertical has been able to make the histories of second-hand cars across Europe clearer and more transparent” and states that the company “has big potential to grow internationally.”
Technologies are constantly evolving, but a vague past of the used vehicles remains perhaps the most significant problem in the automotive world. Buyers are always at risk of getting a car with rollbacked mileage, hidden damages, or other frauds. Dishonest sellers promote those vehicles as being “in perfect condition” so uninformed people often overpay thousands for the illegally overvalued purchase.
It is estimated that mileage counterfeiting alone costs up to €10 billion every year for European consumers, not counting other frauds, such as concealing car accidents, various bugs, or even thefts.
“I live in a region where there’s quite a large problem of used vehicle fraud. It’s quite difficult to check, but it’s important for people to know,” the article quotes Arnas Vasiliauskas, Co-founder and Chief Innovation and Product Officer at carVertical.
A story narrates how carVertical is rapidly improving the situation with the support from the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), launched by European Commission in 2008. The organization is the world’s largest support network for small and medium-sized businesses with international ambitions. EEN is active in more than 60 countries worldwide and brings together 3,000 experts.
A modern cure for the old virus
carVertical was founded in 2017 as a medicine for the second-hand car market diseases. Using the most advanced artificial intelligence and blockchain tools, the digital company gathers and processes all the possible automotive data from various global sources and then generates the vehicle history reports. They help users spot car’s previous accidents, odometer rollbacks, technical inspection results, and other information that dishonest sellers might want to keep for themselves, even if it has been used as a taxi or rental car. Also, reports show archive photos, previous prices, specs & equipment list, and other most relevant details of the particular vehicle’s history.
In short, the carVertical reports make consumers much more aware of the quality of the car they are buying or driving at the moment. But how to make the consumers aware of carVertical itself? How to enter new markets in the quickest possible way? Where to find more reliable automotive data sources in every country?
Ambitious plans need an ambitious partner
"The reality we face in Europe is that every country is so different, from the angle of data access, of legislation and of marketing. It’s not so easy,” A. Vasiliauskas notes.
Therefore, carVertical turned to the EEN for help. The Network had already provided advice and consultancy on the company’s growth in earlier stages of the startup evolution. The main purpose then was to support the business’ internationalisation.
"carVertical had ambitious plans," Mantas Vilys, EEN representative in Lithuania, remembers. "Therefore, the Network had to act fast, and provided intelligence on local legislation and relevant contacts, as well as pre-arranging meetings."
Initially, A. Vasiliauskas created a wish list of countries that carVertical was interested in expanding into. The Network provided the know-how for each country, and spread the message using its contacts. The engine was started.
Still gaining the momentum
Within the first 12 months, carVertical has launched its product within 16 different countries. Currently, the company serves in more than 20 markets on both sides of the Atlantic, including the United States, Germany, France, Russia, Poland, etc. “The Network was one of those key factors that enabled us to scale our business fast,” A. Vasiliauskas highlights in the article.
After a short pause due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the company is back on track in terms of sales growth and rapid expansion to the new markets.
“I believe that carVertical has big potential to grow internationally,” an article quotes M. Vilys. “The Network will continue providing the support needed for growth.”
You can read the original full story here.