FM Capital, a Boulder, Colorado-based automotive investment firm, this week announced a new investment in Dallas, Texas-based DLRdmv, a title and registration platform.
The details: According to the release shared with CDG News, the partnership stems from a shared belief between the two companies that title and registration is a largely underserved corner of the industry, and that dealers should have a bigger hand in shaping the tools built for them.
"Title and registration is one of the most consequential and least-supported parts of the deal process in automotive retail,” Johnson Berry, Co-Founder and CEO at DLRdmv, said.
What he means: Vehicle transactions are increasingly crossing state lines, which has dealers facing regular exposure if the right technology isn't in place, via:
Title and registration rules that vary by state
Thousands of local fee jurisdictions to track
Compliance requirements that can shift out of nowhere
Fee errors that dealers typically end up absorbing
Paperwork mistakes that stall deals
And rejected titles that mean chasing down a buyer well after the sale
"Multiplied across a dealer group with hundreds of rooftops and thousands of transactions a year, the exposure adds up to a material and largely invisible cost," the release said.
Beyond the financial risks: Both companies explained that when solutions ship to market and are only refined after dealer feedback rolls in, it creates an unnecessary lag in dealer satisfaction and willingness to recommend the product to peers.
That's why the goal of this partnership is to just build in as much dealer input as possible upfront, so new solutions are designed the way dealers actually want them.
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How the investment helps: FM Capital's investment gives DLRdmv access to its network of dealer groups and operators, helping the company determine which solutions are needed and why.
That network, for context, spans more than 50 dealer groups, fleet operators, and remarketing companies across the U.S. and Canada.
"FM Capital brings together many of the industry's most sophisticated operators, giving us a rare opportunity to build the future of title and registration alongside the people who depend on it every day," Berry said.
Put simply: DLRdmv wants more dealer input in its product roadmap, and FM Capital has the network and means to provide that at scale.
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