Ex-Tesla CIO's Founded Cloud Technology Startup Tekion Joins Unicorn Startup Club

• California-based cloud technology startup Tekion joins the unicorn startup club after its most recent investment from Advent International.
• Tekion has raised $150 million (or about Rs 1,105 crore) from American private equity firm Advent International at an over $1 billion valuation.
• Tekion is founded by the ex-tesla chief information officer (CIO) Jay Vijayan.

California-based cloud technology startup Tekion Corp. has joined the unicorn startup club after its most recent investment from the Boston-based private equity firm Advent International.

On October 21, Tekion, A cloud technology-based auto retail startup, has raised $150 million (or about Rs 1,105 crore) in its Series C funding round led by Boston-based private equity firm Advent International at an over $1 billion valuation.

The latest investment will help Tekion to scale up and to expand its presence in international markets like Japan, India, and other European countries.

Tekion was founded by Jay Vijayan, A former chief information officer of electric vehicle giant Tesla.

In March 2016, Tekion raised $3.1 million in its Seed funding round from Storm Ventures and BluePointe Ventures. Following, In January 2017, Tekion raised $10 million in its Series A round from Index Ventures and others.

With this latest investment, Tekion has raised $250.1 million (or about Rs 1,845 crore) in a total of five funding rounds, mostly participated by the US-based venture capital firm Index Ventures and Storm Ventures.

The startup is currently headquartered in San Ramon, California. Although, the majority of its research and development work is done in India located offices.

Prior to this investment, Tekion had raised $65 million (or about Rs 479 crore) in its Series B funding round from Exor, General Motors, Alliance Ventures, and other existing investors, including AME Cloud Ventures, Index Ventures, Storm Ventures, BMW iVentures, alongside other investors group.

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“Car buying is a painful ordeal bogged down by price haggling with salesmen and inordinate waiting times at dealerships. Our company wants to remove operational inefficiencies in auto retail and build a customized experience," said Jay Vijayan (Founder & CEO of Tekion)

"Our OEM clients are pleased with the speedy and remote rollout of the platform during the pandemic," he added.

“From the moment we started talking to Tekion’s dealers, we were blown away by the ease and speed of the migration process, especially from the multiple dealers, who transitioned in a month, remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic," said Eric Wei (Managing director at Advent Tech Investment Team).

According to the reports, Tekion has partnered with 17 manufacturers and prominent dealers in its headquartered country, United States.

The startup is primarily located in the US, having most of its workspace and development work in India, present in Chennai and Bengaluru.

About Tekion Corp - Tekion Corp is a California-based cloud technology startup founded in 2016 by Jay Vijayan, A former chief information officer (CIO) of Tesla. Tekion is a SaaS-based technology platform that focuses on connecting the customers, dealers, and OEM clients together by seamlessly connecting every part of the automotive retail journey through its automotive retail cloud platform, including all the functionalities of a Dealer Management System (DMS).

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