Digital Roadside Assistance Platform Urgent.ly Raises $10M Series B
Digital roadside assistance platform Urgent.ly announced it has raised $10 million in a Series B strategic investment round . American Tire Distributors, the largest US tire distributor, is the newest member of the investor syndicate that includes existing investors Verizon Ventures and Forté Ventures. Urgent.ly will use the funds to expand the global reach of its innovative and transformative Roadside as a Service platform across automotive, insurance and transportation-related verticals.
For one major global brand, Urgent.ly’s platform manages over tens of thousands of roadside assistance events every month and delivers millions of dollars in annual savings by eliminating over 250,000 phone calls from their contact center. Additionally, the time to connect a customer with a qualified service provider decreased by nearly 90%, from 16 minutes to under 2 minutes, resulting in a significant increase in customer satisfaction.
“Urgent.ly has a unique combination of location-based services, real-time data, AI and machine-to-machine communication and we are excited to be a part of a company reinventing a very old experience and providing a compelling customer experience,” says Jeffrey Black, Director with Verizon Ventures. “It’s been rewarding to watch the Urgent.ly team expand internationally and we look forward to seeing the company continue to grow and expand its reach and services in the emerging Roadside as a Service space.”
American Tire Distributors, the largest U.S. tire distributor, joins the team with a strategic investment. “ATD is excited to partner with Urgent.ly as an investor as we see opportunities to leverage their industry leading innovative platform in support of our customers,” says Stuart Schuette, CEO of American Tire Distributors.
Mr. James Micali, member of the Board of Directors of ATD, will also join Urgent.ly’s Board of Directors. Mr. Micali, former Chairman and President of Michelin North America, is a senior advisor to and member of Azalea Capital, and will be instrumental in building relationships with potential partners across the global automotive industry.
In addition to operating in the U.S., Urgent.ly’s Roadside as a Service platform powers roadside assistance programs for leading companies in Europe and Australia. Urgent.ly’s Roadside as a Service solution continues to deliver fast, safe and transparent service to hundreds of thousands of stranded motorists, 24/7/365 around the globe.
“We’re very excited by the continued support of our existing investors and honored to welcome a leader and innovator like American Tire Distributors as a strategic partner to the Urgent.ly team,” said Urgent.ly co-founder and CEO Chris Spanos. “We see the incredible global response to our digital solutions and the tremendous growth opportunity as we help solve critical customer experience, service delivery, operational management and data analytics problems that have material impact on customer retention, cost reduction and revenue growth for automotive, insurance and other transportation-related companies.”
