Before tech, the car industry was one of the foremost industries in the country. Now the two industries are getting closer and closer together to make driving safer, buying cars easier and improving the ride. Below, we round up some of the top cartech titans operating in Austin.
Selling a car is hard work. Square Root helps dealers streamline the sales process with data. The company’s software helps all levels of a company see a wide variety of data to improve transparency, inform decision-making and boost sales.
The rental car industry is ripe for disruption. Silvercar is making rentals easier with a streamlined app that replaces the check-in desk, long lines and paperwork, so you can get on the road faster. Plus, users get to ride around in top-of-the-line Audi A4s instead of whatever leftover junk is available at the standard rental lot.
For car dealers working with both new and used autos, inventory can be a real hassle. vAuto helps dealers keep track of what’s on the lot and give them insight into how inventory is moving. It even provides sales with tools to help dealers get more money from every automobile they see.
The Appraisal Lane helps dealers know the right price for used cars. The company uses big data to understand what a car is worth and even offers dealers a cash offer for used cars coming into their lots. This simplifies the trade-in process for many dealers, making it simpler for them to determine if a deal is worth it.
Actually buying a car is far from easy. With TrueCar, users can compare car prices and work with certified dealers through their platform to avoid the pressures of a standard showroom experience. The platform gives users plenty of data on their automobile so they can accurately compare costs — which helps them determine if those sunroof options are really worth it.
Finding the right car can be tricky. Vast aids in new car discovery with a consumer-focused dataset of tons of car details. Dealers can use the company’s datasets to improve the car-buying experience for every customer, no matter how much they know about cars.
Wise Rides wants users to understand the full price of car ownership. The company is focused on helping local used car dealers attract customers while also offering resources on data about value depreciation, upkeep costs and other ways that owning a car can affect your wallet.
Cars are expensive, but Roostio wants to make ownership cheaper with custom car wraps that pay you to drive. Users can sign up for campaigns they’re interested in while advertisers get a new media to draw in customers. And the more a user drives, the more they earn.
Trying to compare car insurance is the last step in the car-buying nightmare. The Zebra offers online quotes anonymously, so you’re not barraged with followups from salespeople trying to get you to sign up for months after your search. All drivers need are a couple basic pieces of info to see how their insurance costs could go down at a number of other providers.
Time to sell your car? Peddle makes the process easy with an instant buying option. Sellers can see the price Peddle pays, and the company will either come tow it away or accept a drop off at any certified location. If users are looking for a little more, they can post their ride on Peddle’s nationwide network of car shoppers.
Austin has had its fair share of ridesharing shakeups, but RideAustin was designed with new ordinances in mind. The nonprofit is focused on making sure drivers earn what they’re worth while keeping rides affordable for more citizens.
Everyone loves better gas milage. FlowBelow helps truckers save gas by making their rigs more aerodynamic. The company scans trucks to find out how airflow can be improved, then builds kits that reduce turbulence and make for smoother airflow, cutting down drag, saving gas and increasing profit for drivers.
The tech that keeps our cars in tip-top shape is at times embarrassingly old. CarServ helps auto repair shops integrate modern software into their processes. Everything from shop management to customer communications can be handled on one platform, making it easy for everyone to stay on top of marketing and maintenance.
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