National Used Car Certification Service Nets $7M In Funding

Donny Hall is an entrepreneur who once created a business called CarSure, essentially an automotive repair insurance plan. According to reporting, Hall sold that company in 2017 and fixed his sights on another business venture that would see him directly challenge Carfax, the industry’s dominant source for any vehicle’s authentic history.

SureSale, Hall’s latest company, is based out of Santa Monica. It is the first national used car certification service that buyers and sellers of any kind of vehicle can utilize to make informed decisions about vehicles purchases, etc. Hall teamed with Jeffrey Schwartz, co-founder of Autobytel, a used car marketplace and review platform, to create SureSale. The company has, so far, garnered $7 million in funding from Los Angeles investment firm Upfront Ventures.

“66 percent of consumers want to buy cars that are certified and only 7 percent do,” says Hall. “Independents don’t have any national [certification] program and dealers don’t have national programs.”

SureSale’s business model involves a comprehensive assessment of any vehicle, including insurance evaluations, thorough background checks, limited warranties and a five-day exchange option for vehicles bought utilizing SureSale’s expertise.

SureSale believes its program offers significant advantages over Carfax, including SureSale’s more precise reporting and cost-efficient services. Hall believes dealers will pay for SureSale’s higher quality reporting.

“Even though there have been a number of recent startups that have seen massive exits in this category like Carvana  ($13BN market cap) and Carmax ($16BN market cap), given that each company has less than 2% market share, any market this large is always ripe for continued efficiency gains,” wrote UpFront Ventures partner and SureSale director Kobie Fuller.