Dealerware — DealerRefresh Vendor Library

Here is the complete sales brief: --- ## Company Research — Dealerware --- ### About Dealerware Dealerware offers fleet management software for the automotive industry, founded in 2016 and headquartered in Austin, Texas. The company's founder is Russell Lemmer. As of April 2026, the company has approximately 118 employees, and is a private company that was acquired in January 2026 by a consortium co-led by Wavecrest Growth Partners and Radian Capital, along with Automotive Ventures and other individual investors. Dealerware now powers over 3,000 retailers and connects over 100,000 vehicles across the U.S. and Canada. --- ### What They Do The cloud-native, mobile-first platform connects fleets of vehicles at automotive retailers with the evolving needs of the modern retail consumer, including courtesy vehicle, paid rental, test drive, and pickup & delivery. **Core Products/Services:** - **Dealerware+** — the only solution in the industry that manages all dealership fleets and programs on one platform with one mobile app. - **Loaner Expense Management** — automates the most time-consuming tasks related to loaner expense management; Service Advisors can collect customer information in seconds, process payments securely, and complete contracts without paper. - **Dealerware Insights** — launched January 2026, a modern reporting experience designed to help retailers, dealer groups, and OEMs turn fleet data into timely, confident action. - **Insurance Verification** — de-risks fleet programs by instantly validating insurance details from customers at the start of every contract; a link is automatically sent to customers when contracts are booked. - **Pickup & Delivery (via HopDrive integration)** — allows retailers to configure pickup and delivery programs including valet experiences with or without a courtesy vehicle; embedded scheduling, driver management, and trip tracking eliminate system switching. **Notable Customers & OEM Partnerships:** - Manages tens of thousands of vehicles for hundreds of dealerships in North America, including the top 10 public dealer groups, across 28 OEM brands. - Named preferred partner for Ford & Lincoln dealers (2021); selected by Toyota Motor North America to power the "Rent a Toyota" program; preferred fleet management partner for Audi Canada; and integrates with Toyota's app for rental experiences. **Recent News (2025–2026):** - January 2026: Acquired by a growth investor group led by Wavecrest Growth Partners and Radian Capital, with participation from Automotive Ventures and automotive industry executives David Metter and Devin Daly. - January 2026: New integration partnership with myKaarma, designed to simplify day-to-day operations by streamlining customer touchpoints, reducing manual steps, and providing a "single pane of glass" experience for dealership users. - February 2026: Expanded its mobility platform with embedded Pickup and Delivery, powered by HopDrive. --- ### DealerRefresh Audience Fit Dealerware's product lives entirely inside the dealership fixed ops and service lane — exactly the personas that make up the DealerRefresh core readership. Their buyers are **Fixed Ops Directors, Service Managers, GMs, and Dealer Principals** who control loaner fleet budgets and technology decisions. A Fixed Operations Director at JLR North Atlanta is already a vocal advocate, confirming the buyer profile maps precisely to the DealerRefresh community. Dealerware is also in an **active growth phase** — they currently have more open roles in Sales and Marketing than at any time in the past 9–12 months — signaling budget availability and a push to expand awareness. **Product-by-Product Fit:** - **Forum Banners (3,000+ auto retail pros daily):** Direct line to the GMs, Fixed Ops Directors, and Service Managers who approve and use Dealerware. These are exactly the people deciding between loaner fleet solutions. High fit — especially with the Dealerware+ relaunch and recent acquisitions creating urgency to drive awareness. - **Retargeting Pixel (Facebook/Instagram retargeting of DealerRefresh visitors):** Dealerware is actively building pipeline. They are actively seeking Account Directors in Austin, meaning the sales team needs warm leads. Retargeting dealership decision-makers who visited DealerRefresh with Dealerware ads is a direct complement to their outbound motion. - **Demo / Review Video (Alex & Jeff deep-dive, 5,000+ views):** A strong fit. Dealerware's value proposition — paperless loaner contracts, insurance verification, fuel/toll recovery, pickup & delivery — is nuanced and operationally specific. A trusted video walkthrough by DealerRefresh hosts would resonate far more with a Fixed Ops Director than a banner ad alone. Dealerware's customers recover an average of $65 in fuel, damage, and tolls per vehicle per month and see a 15% average vehicle utilization