Automotive SaaS Firm MotorK Preps $173M IPO

MotorK, an Italian Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company serving car dealers, is preparing to go public with an initial public offering (IPO) that could value the firm at 150 million euro ($173 million).

The company announced this week that the IPO is expected to happen before the end of the year, with MotorK listing on Euronext Amsterdam.

Marco Marlia, MotorK’s co-founder and CEO, says the IPO will “unlock massive opportunities” for his company, its partners and its customers.

“As a tech company with automotive in our DNA, we have worked tirelessly to build a market-leading platform and a successful growth strategy that combines organic growth with strategic acquisitions,” he said. “We believe this is just the beginning of our journey and that the runway ahead of us is expansive.”

Founded in 2010, MotorK offers a cloud-based SaaS platform called “SparK,” which includes a suite of products designed to support “the full vehicle lifecycle and the entire customer journey.”

In its IPO announcement, the company contends the automotive distribution software market is large, underserved and promising.

MotorK says it will use proceeds from the offering to fund research and development spending, expand its sales team, reserving the bulk of the money — some 60% — for mergers and acquisitions in order to expand its market footprint.

Read more: Auto Tech Firm Keyloop Snaps up SaaS FISC to Optimize New Car Sales

The announcement comes weeks after the motor vehicle technology firm Keyloop said it was acquiring the SaaS company FISC in a merger designed to offer new car sale optimization for dealers, financiers and original equipment manufacturers.