Tekion, a new Hacienda tenant, recently announced a Series D financing round of $250 million, driving the company's valuation to $3.5 billion. Tekion has disrupted a 50-year reliance on aging Dealer Management System platforms by developing the first and fastest cloud-native automotive retail platform, Automotive Retail Cloud (ARC), according to company executives. This transformative dealership software platform uses cutting-edge technology, big data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) to seamlessly bring together original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), retailers, dealers, and consumers. With its highly configurable integration and greater customer engagement capabilities, ARC is simplifying the dealer-consumer relationship and journey. 

ARC provides much more than a typical Dealer Management System by modernizing the end-to-end automotive retail journey and transforming the sales and service experiences to suit modern consumer needs. Executives say ARC enables seamless consumer engagement and the highest level of operational efficiencies with a cutting-edge platform built with the Internet of Things, machine learning, and AI at its core. The Series D funding round was led by Alkeon Capital and co-led by Durable Capital. Other investors include Hyundai Motor Company and several reputable dealer groups across the United States. Advent International, which led Tekion's Series C funding; Index Ventures, which led its Series A funding; and FM Capital also reinvested in this round. 

Tekion plans to invest its additional capital in a variety of ways. They include accelerating ARC platform rollout to dealers across the nation and globally, setting up a state-of-the-art Customer Experience Center, and expanding Product Innovation Hubs at its headquarters in Pleasanton and in Austin, Texas, that focus on continuous product innovation. The company will expand its 24/7 support capabilities with a key initiative in-progress, a world-class Automotive Support Center of Excellence in Ohio. It also plans to rapidly extend OEM partnerships.

"We are very thankful for the trust and incredible support from our dealer, OEM partners, and investors who continue to believe in our mission and our capability to execute," says Jay Vijayan, Founder and CEO of Tekion, which employs over 1,000 innovators globally. "We have experienced phenomenal market acceptance during the past year. This strong round of funding validates industry and investors' belief in Tekion's disruption and our exceptional team of innovators. Our investors know that we're future-driven, and they want to be part of our remarkable story." 

Investors expressed strong support for the company's direction. "We're impressed by Tekion's talented team of innovators who have transformed the automotive retail market with a game-changing platform dedicated to delivering the best dealer and retail experiences," noted Henry Ellenbogen, Chief Investment Officer for Durable Capital Partners LP, when the funding was announced.

"Tekion is turbo-charging the automotive industry by offering an end-to-end, next-generation technology software platform for both car dealers and automotive manufacturers, which provides a rich and unified consumer experience," according to Deepak Ravichandran, General Partner at Alkeon Capital. "Tekion is experiencing strong tailwinds in a large, multi-billion-dollar market including cloud adoption for online retailing, connected vehicles, increased consumer expectations for seamless, digital car purchasing experiences and digital vehicle connectivity. By building a single, unified cloud platform for manufacturers and dealers, Tekion is also unlocking multiple new markets heretofore unavailable to legacy incumbents limited by archaic technology architecture. We believe Tekion is just getting revved up for its multi-year journey in redefining an industry and becoming the market's leading and dominant player."

For more information about Tekion, please visit tekion.com.