motortale knows what’s really under the hood of a used car
Contxto – Looks can be deceiving! That seemingly spotless used car someone’s trying to sell you may have more under the hood than what the seller is telling you.
These hidden issues in the car resale business are brought to light by Argentine startup MOTORTALE’s platform.
And Tomás Galuccio, the startup’s Co-founder, revealed to Contxto that work is underway to develop an anti-fraud feature that will come in handy for car insurance companies.
“Fraudulent claims when signing up a damaged car for an insurance policy is one of the problems insurance companies are trying to solve,” said Galuccio over written correspondence. “And we want to contribute to solving this issue.”
When it comes to plans for 2020, the startup aims to raise an equity round. From there, it also hopes to expand into Latin America sometime next year or in 2021.
MOTORTALE tells a car’s tale
Associates Tomás Galuccio, Lucas Abriata, and Tomás Venturo founded the Argentina-based startup in 2019.
MOTORTALE tenders to both individual buyers as a B2C, but also for car dealerships in a B2B model.
The user just submits the license plate number onto the system, pays MOTORTALE a fee for around US$15, and receives a full report of the car via email. That way, a potential buyer knows whether the car was involved in an accident, has unpaid tickets for speeding, and even if it was repainted.
The closest example to what MOTORTALE seeks to achieve can be found in US-based Carfax. Although its services are only available in its native country and Canada. But Latin America also needs this type of solution.
More so considering how many car fraudsters or coyotes abound.
MOTORTALE rakes in car info
Data is what keeps MOTORTALE running.
And to keep moving forward, the startup relies on databases from sources such as insurance companies, auto repair shops, and car dealerships to identify any issues linked to the vehicle.
MOTORTALE’s biggest challenge is making its database as large and complete as possible. In that sense, business partnerships are crucial to its success. Particularly with companies sitting on hoards of data, but that do nothing with it.
The startup also crowdsources the knowledge of individuals who see a crashed or altered car on the street. The startup pays between one to two Argentine pesos to the passerby who sends pictures of the vehicle via WhatsApp. After this, the information is added to its database.
Galuccio reports that this resulted in MOTORTALE gathering over 140,000 validated pictures of cars throughout its one year run.
Insurance companies and beyond
The power of all this information has led MOTORTALE to consider new horizons as a business.
“It’s true that MOTORTALE is in the used car business and our goal is to transform it,” acknowledged Galuccio. “Along the way we’ve found we can collaborate with many other players that directly or indirectly intervene in this market.”
Given its upcoming anti-fraud feature, insurance companies are an interesting prospect the startup is exploring.
As someone who’s had loved ones ripped off in car dealings with coyotes, I sincerely hope the startup expands into Mexico sooner rather than later.
Related articles: Tech and startups from Argentina!
-ML
