The automotive industry is undoubtedly one of the most dynamic in the world. It is a sector that lives and breathes on innovation, with those businesses innovating fastest and deepest always winning. Consumers are quick to vote with their wallets if a brand comes out with something they are desperate to get a piece of.

Whether you are a manufacturer or dealer, maintaining competitive advantage is no longer just about the vehicles you make and sell; it’s about product, service and brand seamlessly combining to tell consumers that this is the one for them.

This is where partners like Bumper have a critical role to play. Manufacturers and dealers do what they do best – make and sell cars – and bring the very best partners in the world in other crucial elements of the customer experience to ensure those three components of excellence are delivered.

Given this context, at Bumper we have always known that staying ahead of the curve is not just a goal, it is an absolute necessity. If you stand still, you die – and while we have been on an incredible growth journey to date, becoming what is undoubtedly one of the leading businesses in automotive payments in Europe, we – like our industry partners – strive for better.

The $48 million funding round we announced last week underpins that ambition. We want to be the dominant payment platform for car dealers across Europe, giving their customers the ultimate flexibility in making the necessary payments to keep their cars on the road.

Our journey began with a simple yet powerful idea: to make car repairs less financially burdensome for owners while empowering dealerships with advanced, digital payment solutions to enable those customers to say “yes” to the repairs and upgrades they need. Delivering a product to meet this simple mission has ultimately driven our exponential growth, and the endorsement of investment from JLR’s InMotion Ventures and Porsche Ventures is a hugely positive moment.

The recent funding round, led by Autotech Ventures and bolstered by Shell Ventures, in addition to both JLR and Porsche, is about more than capital: it is a resounding vote of confidence in our vision to become the go-to payment platform for dealers anywhere in the world.

Our strategy is straightforward yet ambitious. We’re expanding our reach, targeting key European markets including the UK, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and Ireland. While Bumper is already available through 5,000 dealers, enabling more than 250,000 repairs in the past year alone, our goal is to double this number annually.

While the growth strategies of automotive businesses vary widely from brand to brand, they increasingly have one consistent goal: to support their customers with the car-related challenges they face, take the pressure away when decisions are difficult and, ultimately, give them the most enjoyable car-buying and owning experience possible. Financing servicing and repairs is a fundamental part of delivering that, and there has never been a more critical time for dealers to consider the services they provide, with the cost-of-living crisis leading any car owner or buyer to consider their options more deeply than I have seen in my lifetime.

Bumper’s success isn’t just measured in numbers, it’s reflected in the relief and satisfaction of car owners who can keep their vehicles on the road without financial strain, and in seeing the thriving businesses of our dealer partners that can offer more to their customers. These objectives are ultimately two that not only mean the end customer is hugely positive, it speeds-up the time to purchase and drives incremental revenue.