Self Inspection has raised $10 million to expand its artificial intelligence-powered platform for capturing, analyzing and sharing standardized information about a vehicle’s physical condition. Sandberg Bernthal Venture Partners, the investment firm co-founded by Sheryl Sandberg and Tom Bernthal, led the financing. Strategic investors U.S. AutoForce and Westlake Financial also participated, along with Costanoa Ventures, Rebellion Ventures and BrightCap Ventures. Existing backers include DVx Ventures, which was founded by former Tesla President Jon McNeill, and Karim Bousta, a former vice president of worldwide service at Tesla.
Self Inspection plans to use the capital to advance its product and AI capabilities, deepen relationships with enterprise customers and continue expanding across North America and Europe.
The San Diego-based company is developing what it describes as a system of record for vehicle condition. The platform creates a standardized, auditable record of a vehicle’s physical state that can follow it throughout its lifecycle.
That record can be used when a vehicle is purchased, rented, financed, serviced, returned, resold or removed from operation.
Vehicle condition is an important factor in many automotive transactions, but the information is frequently collected through paper forms, manual inspections and disconnected systems.
Assessments can also vary based on the person performing the inspection, the process being used and the organization requesting the information.
This lack of standardization can delay transactions, create disagreements about damage and lead companies to make lending, pricing and remarketing decisions using incomplete or inconsistent data.
Self Inspection is seeking to address the problem by treating vehicle condition as structured information that can be captured and shared consistently.
The company refers to this category as Vehicle Condition Intelligence.
Vehicle Condition Intelligence consists of verified and standardized data about a vehicle’s physical state, including visible damage, tire condition and other factors that may affect safety, value or maintenance requirements.
Self Inspection combines guided image capture, automated damage detection, standardized reporting and historical inspection records into a single platform.
The product operates through a smartphone, reducing the need for dedicated inspection equipment.
Operators, drivers, dealers and consumers can open the application and follow a guided process for capturing images of a vehicle.
Self Inspection’s AI analyzes the images, identifies potential damage and generates a standardized condition report.
The platform then stores the report as part of an auditable history connected with the vehicle.
This historical record can help users determine when damage occurred, how a vehicle’s condition has changed and whether previous assessments are consistent with a current inspection.
Self Inspection said its platform is designed for organizations including auto lenders, rental companies, fleet operators, auctions, marketplaces, service providers and remarketing businesses.
Lenders can use condition information when evaluating collateral, processing lease returns or determining the value of a financed vehicle.
Rental operators can document a vehicle before and after each customer uses it, potentially reducing disputes and accelerating damage claims.
Fleet managers can monitor vehicle condition across large numbers of assets, while remarketing teams can provide prospective buyers with more consistent information before a sale.
Service organizations can use inspection data to identify maintenance needs and direct vehicles toward the appropriate repairs.
Self Inspection has completed more than one million inspections across rental fleets, automotive finance companies, auctions and marketplaces.
The company said customers have saved more than 300,000 operational hours and reduced costs by over $80 million through its platform.
Automotive finance has emerged as one of the company’s strongest applications.
Stellantis Financial Services uses Self Inspection for lease-end assessments and corporate vehicle management.
Lease-end inspections determine whether a returned vehicle has damage or wear beyond the conditions permitted under the agreement.
Automating more of this process could help finance companies complete assessments faster, apply more consistent standards and provide customers with clearer documentation.
The participation of Westlake Financial reflects growing interest among auto lenders in obtaining more reliable information about the vehicles supporting their loans and leases.
Accurate condition data can affect underwriting, collateral valuation, repossession management and the price a lender expects to receive when a vehicle is resold.
U.S. AutoForce’s investment also highlights the potential importance of tire information within a broader vehicle condition record.
Tire condition can influence vehicle safety, maintenance planning, operating costs and asset life.
Standardized tire data could help distributors, fleet operators and service providers anticipate replacement needs and plan inventory more efficiently.
Self Inspection believes condition information will become a standard component of automotive transactions, similar to the way vehicle history reports are now used throughout the industry.
Vehicle history reports generally provide information involving ownership, accidents, title status and service activity.
A continuously updated condition record could complement that history by documenting the vehicle’s current physical state and how it changes over time.
The company sees growing demand for this capability as more automotive transactions move online.
Customers increasingly purchase, finance and sell vehicles without completing every step at a physical dealership or auction.
These digital transactions require buyers, lenders and sellers to trust information collected remotely.
A standardized AI-assisted inspection can provide participants with a shared record rather than requiring each company to conduct a separate assessment.
Self Inspection’s investors believe the platform could become common infrastructure across automotive lending, fleet management, rentals, servicing and remarketing.
The company’s ability to establish that position will depend on the accuracy of its AI, the consistency of its reports and the number of industry participants willing to use the same condition standard.
The financing will support Self Inspection as it improves its models, expands integrations and works with more large automotive organizations.
Its broader objective is to create one trusted vehicle condition record that can be used throughout the asset’s complete operational life.
KEY QUOTES:
“Vehicle history became a standard part of every automotive transaction. Vehicle condition is going the same way. Our job is to be the source of truth for it, one record, one standard, that follows the car for its entire life. This funding lets us move on that faster.”
Constantine Yaremtso, CEO of Self Inspection
“The biggest technology companies get built by transforming industries that are massive, essential and ready for change. Vehicle condition touches billions of dollars in automotive decisions every year, and the data behind it is still a mess. We think Self Inspection is the team that builds the system of record the industry needs.”
Sheryl Sandberg, Partner at Sandberg Bernthal Venture Partners
“Tire condition, specifically, is turning into one of the most valuable data layers we have. It improves safety, drives predictive maintenance, helps us plan distribution and extends the life of the asset. As the industry gets more connected, this kind of intelligence stops being a nice-to-have.”
Chuck Dauk, Chief Innovation and Transformation Officer at U.S. Venture
