Impel, a leader in AI-powered customer lifecycle management for the automotive industry, announced that it has acquired SaaS provider Outsell in a deal valued at over $100 million in cash consideration plus Impel equity. This acquisition establishes the auto industry’s first end-to-end AI sales and marketing automation platform, creating a combined company serving over 8,000 dealers in 51 countries.
The companies’ capabilities will enable dealers and OEMs to deliver seamless and hyper-personalized experiences across every stage of the customer lifecycle.
This acquisition represents Impel’s third in many years. And Impel acquired Pulsar AI of Tbilisi, Georgia in 2021 and Los Angeles-based CarLabs.ai in 2022. Last year, Impel received a $104 million growth equity investment led by Silversmith Capital Partners.
Launched in 2004 by serial entrepreneur Mike Wethington, Outsell is located in Minneapolis and employs 170 people. With first-party data, machine learning technology, and predictive AI models, Outsell’s customer engagement platform utilizes millions of data points and real-time customer behavioral cues to automate and optimize outreach at scale. Over the last year, the company has delivered 500+ million messages via SMS text, email, direct mail, and social media to 61 million consumers.
Impel’s future growth plans feature continued investment in expanding its open partner ecosystem and platform expansion through organic product development efforts and selective acquisitions.
KEY QUOTES:
“Outsell’s unique ability to help automotive manufacturers and retailers listen, predict, and communicate with customers in a fully automated way has earned them a reputation in the industry that is second to none. This acquisition enables us to provide a unified AI platform that connects every channel and touchpoint across the automotive retailing ecosystem. The combination of intelligent automated outreach coupled with conversational AI is a game changer that will enable dealers of all sizes to deliver exceptional customer experiences while also driving meaningful process and productivity improvements.”
– Impel Co-Founder and CEO Devin Daly
“As the leader in automotive AI, Impel has brought tremendous innovation to the industry and the transformation of retail now taking place. I can’t think of another company that is better positioned to extend the technology and relationships that Outsell has developed over the past 20 years. I’m proud of what our team has accomplished, and we look forward to joining with Impel to redefine what’s possible.”
– Outsell Founder and CEO Mike Wethington, who will join Impel’s board
“As Large Language Models (LLMs) become commoditized, durable competitive advantages and value will be created by AI applications that are powered by proprietary first-party data embedded within day-to-day business operations. With our acquisition of Outsell, Impel gains a powerful set of capabilities that complement our industry-leading vertical AI platform. Outsell’s ability to deliver “right message, right person, right channel, right time” communications, paired with Impel’s AI-powered merchandising and communication applications, provides us with an unprecedented ability to deliver frictionless, personalized experiences on demand.”
– Michael Quigley, Impel Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer
