zag.com with $9 Million round

Filed in archive Venture Capital on December 15, 2005

So you are planning to revolutionize the car retail market online which apparently has had little online/offline conversion so far. What you need to do - think big and spend some money!

And as testament to that you raise three rounds while still being in stealth mode:

"SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 14, 2005--Capping off a successful year of fundraising, recruiting and business development, Zag (www.zag.com) announced today that the company has raised an additional $9 million in equity financing from a group of business and technology investors. Leading the round is GRP Partners, accompanied by Capital One Financial Corp., anthem Ventures and Arcturus Capital as co-investors. This latest round brings Zag's total financing to $32.7 million.

Zag is building an end-to-end online auto buying platform that will significantly improve the shopping and buying experience for customers, while providing a more efficient sales and fulfillment process for dealers. Zag provides this platform as a private-label turnkey solution to auto dealers and affinity buying groups.

Zag will support its growth by using the proceeds for ongoing development of its technology and services platform and for expansion of its national dealer network.

"This is a validating step for Zag, one that provides the financing necessary to finish building out the best technology and services solution currently available," said Scott Painter, Zag founder and CEO. "Consumers and dealers are ready for a better experience -- one that puts the customer in greater control of the process while enabling the dealer to focus on sales, rather than simply chasing Internet leads."

Amazing!