01/15/2018
Billions valuation for Auto1
“And then came grandma”
By Claus Gorgs
Kai Müller for manager magazin
From zero to 2.9 billion:
Hakan Koç (l.) And Christian Bertermann manage one of the most valuable start-ups worldwide
The Berlin start-up has become Europe’s largest used car dealer in only five years. The investment by Softbank billionaire Masayoshi Son now places Auto1 among the world’s most valuable young companies. The two founders Hakan Koc and Christian Bertermann provide insights into the management of their fleet.
The old post office says a lot about the lifestyle in Kreuzberg. A bookstore, a wine shop and the noble children’s outfitters Rasselfisch reside here, young fathers push prams past. About its largest tenant, however, the Gründerzeithaus reveals next to nothing. Only at second glance do you discover the DIN A4-sized paper sign on the glass door next to the Alnatura supermarket: “Auto1 Group”.
The modest appearance is in stark contrast to the economic development: In five years, the start-up of a two-man shop to Europe’s largest used car dealer with 1.5 billion euros revenue rose. Average growth rate: 350 percent. The founders Hakan Koç (33) and Christian Bertermann (33) have collected at least 465 million euros in venture capital, making Auto1 one of the most valuable German start-ups.
Now is the legendary Japanese tech investor Masayoshi Son with 460 million euros in the Auto1 Group, The investment from Japan increases the rating of the Berlin start-up to 2.9 billion euros. This makes Auto1 one of the highest rated young companies in Europe and the world – only the Spotify streaming service is rated higher in Europe.
The business concept of the Auto1 Group is as simple as it is successful: Via various online portals – the most well-known is Wirkaufendeinauto.de (WKDA) – the company purchases used cars and sells them to car dealers. With presence in more than 20 countries, Auto1 capitalizes on regional price differences and eliminates middlemen.
Guaranteed price for car salesmen
Most private sellers receive a guaranteed price and do not have to worry about any formalities anymore. “Auto1 is the first player to have created an internationally scalable trading platform for used cars,” praised BMW CEO Harald Krüger. “They are changing the market noticeably.”
Unlike agency portals like Mobile.de or Autoscout24, Auto1 itself owns the vehicles. The seller gets his money faster – and the online retailer a unique database of real prices. The start-up is “very disruptive,” judges Google’s Germany boss Philipp Justus. With a rating of 2.5 billion euros, the used car dealer is as popular with investors as the cook-box dispatcher HelloFresh or the delivery service Delivery Hero. However, almost nothing is known about Auto1.
Behind the glass door with the paper sign opens up a world of its own: a reception counter with the appearance of a check-in counter at the airport, a waiting room like the doctor with car magazines on the table. In the video-monitored parking lot next door are more bicycles than cars.
Hakan Koç and Christian Bertermann receive DB5 in the meeting room, named after the car classic of Aston Martin, whose picture adorns one of the walls. Otherwise: sober business furniture, white walls, glass doors. The board office is visible to everyone, as door signs serve DIN A4 sheets in transparent covers.
Both bosses are wearing jeans, the top shirt button is open. They are just coming from the first photo shoot of their lives and are worried about whether they come across well. Publicity has not been her thing so far. This has nothing to do with secrecy, assures Koç. “We just do not see any sense in promoting ourselves, we prefer to use the time to move the company forward.”
The company, meanwhile, has about 2800 employees (of which 1200 in Germany), 350 branches and about 3000 sold cars – per day. Auto1 has traded just under a million used cars since its inception, and each year, it will be a few hundred thousand more.
Two Internet nerds, of all people, have managed to roll up an industry whose image is only slightly above that of Hütchenspielern. They have gained 30,000 car dealers as customers, though they take away parts of the business from them. How did that succeed? Quite simply, says Bertermann. With simplicity, transparency and trust.
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