With AUTO1 Group recently being named by the Financial Times as one of Europe’s top long-term growth champions, I wanted to take some time to reflect on its remarkable journey so far. Not only has Auto1 made fantastic returns for its investors, it’s become one of Germany’s best companies providing over 5,000 jobs.
In 2013, we had our first meeting with AUTO1 co-founders Christian Bertermann and Hakan Koç in a small auto dealership in Berlin. At the time, securing co-leads for Series A was a challenge, with many skeptical about the upside potential of the used car sales market. I remember in our initial meeting that we saw something different in the vision and dedication of Christian and Hakan, and we decided to invest in the firm’s Series A. Christian and Hakan lived and breathed cars, and it was clear they knew how to take this idea digital.
After that round we worked closely with Christian and Hakan to bring their vision of transforming the European automotive landscape to life. Their mission was to simplify and improve the used car market, which had traditionally been inefficient and untrusted, in order to make car purchases faster, easier and 100% digital. Recognizing that buying a car is typically one of the most significant purchases people make – affecting everything from mobility to social connections – they identified an unmet need to improve the experience for buyers and sellers alike.
Thinking back to the environment in which AUTO1 launched, the used car market was complex, with unreliable information, hidden fees and time-consuming auctions. Christian, frustrated by his own experience trying to sell a used car on behalf of his grandmother, worked with Hakan to envision a digital fix to this headache. Just 9 months after founding the business, they launched Europe’s first wholesale platform for professional car dealers – remarkable speed to product market fit for such a complex platform.
A decade later, AUTO1 has reshaped the market and become one of the world’s leading online car retailers, selling over 166,000 units in 2024. Each one of these transactions represents money and time saved for consumers, and faster transactions for sellers.
Along the way AUTO1 listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 2021 IPO at an initial valuation of €11 billion, making it at the time Germany’s most valuable startup. It now employs more than 5,000 people and was recently ranked 10th in the FT’s list of Europe’s fastest growing companies of the past decade with a CAGR of 79.5% - in simpler terms, growing revenues from €15.7m in 2013 to €5.4bn 2023.
This of course means great returns for AUTO1's investors, but we’re just as proud to have backed a company that’s improved a major market, created thousands of good jobs, and continues to grow at pace.
Christian, Hakan and the entire team at AUTO1 – congrats on your incredible journey so far. We’re all excited to see how you continue to shape the future of the automotive industry and beyond.