Impel Acquires Automotive Customer Engagement Platform Outsell in $100M+ Deal

Syracuse, New York, July 9, 2024 – Impel, the global leader in AI-powered customer lifecycle management for the automotive industry, announced today that it has acquired SaaS provider Outsell in a deal valued at more than $100 million in cash consideration plus Impel equity. The acquisition establishes the auto industry’s first end-to-end AI sales and marketing automation platform, creating a combined company serving over 8,000 dealers in 51 countries.

The companies’ capabilities will empower dealers and OEMs to deliver seamless, hyper-personalized experiences across every stage of the customer lifecycle.

“Outsell’s unique ability to help automotive manufacturers and retailers listen, predict and communicate with customers in a fully automated way has earned them a reputation in the industry that is second to none,” said Impel Co-Founder and CEO Devin Daly. “This acquisition enables us to provide a unified AI platform that connects every channel and touchpoint across the automotive retailing ecosystem. The combination of intelligent automated outreach coupled with conversational AI is a game changer that will enable dealers of all sizes to deliver exceptional customer experiences while also driving meaningful process and productivity improvements.”

This acquisition represents Impel’s third in as many years. Impel acquired Pulsar AI of Tbilisi, Georgia in 2021 and Los Angeles-based CarLabs.ai in 2022. Last year, Impel received a $104-million growth equity investment led by Silversmith Capital Partners.

Founded in 2004 by serial entrepreneur Mike Wethington, Outsell is located in Minneapolis and employs 170 people. Powered by first-party data, machine learning technology and predictive AI models, Outsell’s customer engagement platform leverages millions of data points and real-time customer behavioral cues to automate and optimize outreach at scale. In the past 12 months, the company has delivered more than 500 million messages via SMS text, email, direct mail and social media to 61 million consumers.  

Automotive retailing is in the throes of disruption, facing multiple factors including the push for electric vehicles (EVs), higher interest rates, consumer uncertainty, the digitization of dealerships, and the changing advertising landscape driven by the deprecation of third party cookies. To meet these challenges and the growing expectations of consumers for more personalized experiences, dealers are increasingly turning to AI fueled by first-party data to drive their operations.

“As the leader in automotive AI, Impel has brought tremendous innovation to the industry and the transformation of retail now taking place,” said Outsell Founder and CEO Mike Wethington, who will join Impel’s board. “I can’t think of another company that is better positioned to extend the technology and relationships that Outsell has developed over the past 20 years. I’m proud of what our team has accomplished, and we look forward to joining with Impel to redefine what’s possible.”  

Michael Quigley, Impel Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer added, “As Large Language Models (LLMs) become commoditized, durable competitive advantages and value will be created by AI applications that are powered by proprietary first-party data, embedded within day-to-day business operations. With our acquisition of Outsell, Impel gains a powerful set of capabilities that complement our industry leading vertical AI platform. Outsell’s ability to deliver “right message, right person, right channel, right time” communications, paired with Impel’s AI-powered merchandising and communication applications, provides us with an unprecedented ability to deliver frictionless, personalized experiences on demand.”

Impel’s future growth plans include continued investment in expanding its open partner ecosystem as well as platform expansion through organic product development efforts and selective acquisitions.

About Impel

Impel offers automotive dealers, OEMs, and third-party marketplaces the industry’s most advanced AI-powered customer lifecycle management platform. The company’s end-to-end omnichannel solution leverages proprietary shopper behavioral data and generative conversational AI technology to deliver hyper-personalized experiences at every touchpoint. Impel’s fully integrated platform works seamlessly with all major website, CRM, and DMS platforms. To date, the company has delivered 21 billion shopper interactions, influencing more than $5 billion in Sales and Service revenue across 51 countries.