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Consumer Prices Are Going Up

Consumer Prices Are Going Up
September 1 2020

If you were hoping to find some savings during the COVID-19 pandemic, you won't find them in the many markets, unfortunately. Consumer goods suffered an initial drop in pricing. But now, because of a disrupted supply chain and the stimulus money, goods are hot again. 

Especially in the used car markets. You might be able to make a few bucks if you're willing to part with a vehicle because used-car prices are spiking due to an unusual confluence of factors during the pandemic.

The reasons? Among them are that buyers are flooding the used-car market, looking for deals amid high prices for new vehicles, low-interest rates and a shortage of new-vehicle inventory.


Used-car prices are rising again is a welcome sign for holders of automotive stocks. The used-car market is larger than the new-car market. Automotive-related stocks have risen since April as pricing has improved, but they aren’t close to recent highs.
 


Preowned vehicles are an important part of the value chain. Used-car pricing can affect, for instance, what new cars—and car parts—can sell for, as well as how long used cars will stay on the road. Lower used-car prices, of course, also reduce trade-in values for shoppers seeking a new ride.

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Used Car Sellers:

Vroom is a New York City-based used car retailer and e-commerce company that enables consumers to buy, sell, and finance cars online. The company was founded in August 2013 by Marshall Chesrown, Kevin Westfall, and Scott Chesrown. To date, Vroom has raised over $440 million in Venture Capital and Private Equity. It also has a refurbishment facility in Stafford, Texas, and was included on Forbes’ list of the Hottest E-Commerce Startups of 2015. Vroom Inc. went public in June 2020 and its shares rose $468 million the day after in an initial public offering under the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic.

Carvana is an online used car retailer based in Tempe, Arizona. The company is known for its multi-story car vending machines, and in 2018 it was reported to be the fastest-growing used car dealer in the United States.

CarMax is America's largest used-car retailer and a Fortune 500 company. The corporate entity behind the formation of CarMax was Circuit City Stores, Inc. The first CarMax used-car store opened in September 1993, 1.7 miles from Circuit City's corporate offices in Richmond, Virginia.

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Since last week, PrivCo has added:
634 Companies | 74 M&A Deals289 Funding Activities

Funding & Deal Highlights:

Primary Hosting, a cloud brokerage platform, is pleased to announce the closing of an acquisition of Mobile Agent Now- a leading review monitoring and response platform. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Apple acquired Camerai, an Israeli startup, between 2018 and 2019. It’s a computer vision company and it has been helping Apple in its AR developments. The iPhone maker is known to buy smaller startups quietly to boost its business. Nearly two years after, the latest news about this acquisition leaked out. It was first reported by a newspaper in Israel.

Bolt Bikes, the electric bike platform marketed to gig economy delivery workers, has a new name and a fresh injection of $11 million in capital from a Series A funding round led by Australian Clean Energy Finance Corporation.

WhizAI, which touts itself as the first and only purpose-built cognitive insights platform for the life sciences, secured $4 million in seed funding. The Somerset, New Jersey-based company’s platform uses artificial intelligence, machine learning, and scalability to learn the language and data of life sciences to provide insights to customers about business questions.

MURAL announced it had raised $23 million earlier this year, though that investment closed in 2019. The $23 million round was a more traditionally sized Series A, coming after what TechCrunch then described as a “history of capital-efficient growth.”

ReliaQuest, a company developing cybersecurity managed service and intelligence platform for global enterprises said it brought in more than $300 million in growth financing in a round led by KKR, with participation from TenEleven Ventures and ReliaQuest’s founder and CEO Brian Murphy.

Cloud-based identity verification and fraud prevention startup Socure today closed a $35 million round. CEO Tom Thimot told VentureBeat the funds will bolster Socure’s R&D efforts and help it expand its customer base.

Mental health care benefits provider Lyra Health became a unicorn Tuesday following a $110 million Series D round that brings its valuation to $1.1 billion, according to the company.

SparkMeter, a provider of grid management services, equipment, and software solutions, today closed a $12 million funding round. A spokesperson told VentureBeat the funds will be used to launch the company’s new digital solutions that connect grid data insights to business operations for electricity distribution utilities in emerging markets.

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