Last week, we announced our lead investment in Ekho, the $15M Series A powering the infrastructure layer behind truly digital, compliant vehicle commerce. Ekho is solving a problem that has quietly stalled the industry's evolution for decades: how to automate tax, title, registration, and compliance across all 50 states so consumers can actually buy a vehicle online, from start to finish. Their orchestration layer finally connects fragmented APIs, dealer systems, and regulatory workflows into one seamless, scalable platform.

But our conviction in Ekho didn’t start at the term sheet. Over the past several months, we conducted deep diligence into the $1T+ U.S. vehicle commerce market, mapping out the regulatory gridlock, misaligned dealer incentives, and legacy software infrastructure holding the industry back. What we found is a category on the verge of reinvention.

This week, we're sharing that research. An in-depth look at why we believe vehicle retail is approaching a long-overdue inflection point, and what’s unlocking the shift to a faster, more transparent, and digitally native future.

The automotive industry is a pillar of the global economy, accounting for 4.8% of U.S. GDP and moving nearly 75 million new vehicles globally in 2024 – not including millions more motorcycles, RVs, golf carts, and off-road ATVs. Yet for all its economic might, the industry is built on a fundamental flaw: after spending billions to build brand equity, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) surrender their customer at the dealership door, precisely when that equity is most vulnerable. For a century, this hand-off was an accepted cost of doing business. Today, it is no longer inevitable. A new technology stack is finally enabling a seamless “Click. Buy. Drive.” journey, sparking the industry’s most radical reinvention since the Model T rolled off the line.

The deeply ingrained traditions of vehicle purchasing–the familiar cadence of showroom visits, the often-tense ballet of protracted negotiations, the daunting mountains of ensuing paperwork–are steadily ceding ground to a digitally native, consumer-first paradigm. This "Click. Buy. Drive." is far more than a mere iteration or a superficial gloss of technology on an old model; it represents a fundamental re-architecting of automotive commerce–a ground-up rethinking of how vehicles move from factory to driveway. This transformation promises shared benefits to all key stakeholders: end consumers seeking value and convenience; OEMs striving for efficiency and brand control; and, crucially, dealerships eager to expand margins, reduce or eliminate inventory burden, and prepared to embrace this digital-first future.

For generations, automotive commerce has been defined by the physical dealership, a model entrenched by century-old state franchise laws. Originally designed to ensure service availability, this framework now creates a cascade of friction that leaves every key stakeholder–the consumer, the manufacturer (OEM), and the dealer–in a worse position. This misalignment of incentives has rendered the entire system untenable.

Read the rest on our website 🔗