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Tell me everything I need to know about Hakan Koç and his business Auto1 Group
Hello! Thanks for your question about Hakan Koc and his business, Auto1 Group. The short answer is that Hakan Koc had a significant career in leadership at tech companies before founding Auto1 Group. The company was founded in 2012 but already has $850 million in revenue and 2,000 employees. You'll find a deep dive of my research below.
METHODOLOGY
To respond to your request, I looked at company websites, industry reports, trusted media sites, social media, and other sources to find the requested information. LinkedIn, Crunchbase and other profiles were especially helpful for learning about Hakan Koc. For Auto1 Group, I looked into the company's financials, history, competitive advantages, and other details.
HAKAN KOC
Koc, founder and managing director at Auto1 Group, studied at Brooklyn Law School and Bucerius Law School and holds an LLB. He started his career as a developer with TNG. After that, he was a founder of a company called Balonto, worked as a key accountant at Daily Deal, project lead mobile at Zalando, worked as an EIR at Rocket Internet Gmbh, and as a chief officer at Home24.de. Koc has invested an undisclosed amount in Homebell. He's attended several notable events; as a speaker, he attended the NOAH 16 London Conference in 2016 and the Bits & Pretzels - The Founders Festival 2016. He also attended the NOAH Berlin Conference in 2016. Mr. Koc speaks English, French, German, and Turkish.
AUTO1 GROUP
Founded in 2012, this company buys used cars using an online marketplace and sells them at a higher price to car dealers. Before the company was founded, Koc and his co-founder Christian Bertermann were both working for other companies: Koc as CPO of Home24, and Bertermann as VP of Product International at Groupon. The men were both working out of the same office building at the time, which is how they met. Bertermann's inspiration for the idea came from personal experiences have difficulty selling used cars.
The business model for Auto1 Group is fairly straightforward. A user of the online marketplace who wants to sell their car receives an estimated price. They take the car for an inspection, and if all is well, the seller receives an official offer. According to the company's website, "By connecting buyers and sellers through our technology we are enabling consumers as well as dealers to trade seamlessly." The company sources from all channels: dealerships, business units, and OEMs.
Auto1 started with an impressive $100 million in seed funding. The company now operates in more than 20 countries, has 25,000 partner traders, and $850 million in revenue. The group claims that the size of its market is $1 trilion. Auto1 has an annual volume of over 150,000 traded vehicles. More than 2,000 employees work for the company, and insiders say that a valuation of the company at $2 billion is possible.
Auto1 partners with multiple brands. For example, the company is partners with Berlin-based Jetztautoverkaufen.de. In the US, Auto1's partner is AutoHero. The company also faces some competition. It's main competitors are Emil Frey and Avag in Germany, CarMax in the US, Manheim Auctions in the US, and Carspring.
How has Auto1 Group become so successful in such a short time? The company has several competitive advantages. First, by controlling the value chain (the company buys the used cars itself instead of outsourcing that step), Auto1 has significantly sped up the process of moving merchandise. Second, the company takes advantage of economies of scale and a network of partners. For example, it's the largest customer for automotive transporters, so it can transport cars relatively cheaply. Third, the company understands prices across Europe, so it can buy a car cheaply in one city and sell it for a premium in another.
CONCLUSION
To wrap up, Hakan Koc had a significant career in leadership at tech companies before founding Auto1 Group. The company was founded in 2012 but already has $850 million in revenue and 2,000 employees. I hope this information is helpful to you! Thanks for using Wonder, and let us know if we can help you with anything else.