Suzuki and Marubeni invest in automotive fintech Bumper
James Jackson, co-founder and CEO of Bumper (pictured r), expects to accelerate plans to be the dominant payment platform for car dealers with new investment from Suzuki Global Ventures and Marubeni Ventures.
Bumper has raised a further £2 million in a Series B extension round. This follows the £40 million Series B fundraise of 2023 which received further investment from Autotech Ventures, Shell Ventures, JLR’s InMotion Ventures and Porsche Ventures. Investment in Bumper now totals £55 million.
Bumper is available through 5,000 dealers, providing payment solutions for over 250,000 repairs in the last 12 months. The company aims to double this number each year.
Jackson said: “With Suzuki Global Ventures and Marubeni Ventures joining our growing portfolio of major automotive investors, we can accelerate our ambitious plans to be the dominant payment platform for car dealers in the UK and across Europe.
“We’re delighted that Suzuki Global Ventures and Marubeni Ventures see the value of what we’ve already achieved and our future potential.
“Unexpected and unbudgeted car repair bills are a universal problem requiring flexible payment solutions that benefit customers and dealers. With our investors’ support we’re now ideally placed to invest in new products and increase our dealer footprint.”
Suzuki was ranked as the top performing automotive brand in the Institute of Customer Service’s 2024 UK Customer Satisfaction Index. Marubeni owns three dealership groups in the UK, RRG Group and HPL Motors Group in Manchester and Norton Way Motors in London.
Bumper’s Gross Merchandise Value grew 100% YoY and customer numbers were up 80% in the last 12 months.
Tristan Jennings, senior associate of Marubeni Ventures said: “Bumper has clearly demonstrated an ability to address the unique financing needs of automotive repair customers, reduce friction at point of sale and improve the user experience, while seamlessly integrating into existing dealership IT infrastructure.”
