Carviz leadership team on the first day of the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference, Celia Barberousse (CMO, left), Evan Barberousse (CTO, middle left), Côme Pinczon du Sel (CEO, middle right), and Rob Kazmarek (COO, right)

CARVIZ HITS THE ROAD

Experiences and Observations from Hosting Pitch Booths at Two Prestigious Conferences

Startup life is fast moving and ever-changing. It’s been easy for us to look at an event calendar and think, “is that really going to help us?” The answer is invariably yes, to some degree, but with product deadlines, customer development, and fundraising preparation, there never seems to be that ‘perfect’ time to set all of it aside to make new connections and build awareness.

And yet we made it happen in September 2023! Thankfully multiple events were reasonably stacked close to one another that we could dive deep into ‘conference mode.’ We had set out with a major goal of building both customer and investor awareness, and we’re unquestionably confident we achieved that broad goal. In the process, we also were able to hone in on what matters to those customers and investors, and thus our elevator pitch became far more salient and tangible:

• Remote vehicle inspection, entirely guided by AI
  
• Our app absorbs video, audio, text and depth inputs
  
• We tell you damage exists, localize it, tell you what kind, and rate its severity
  
• You get a report with the price of repairs and comparables in the market
  
• All in under five minutes
  

This is Carviz in a nutshell, a valuable outcome of our attendance at two incredible events. For more on the collection of AI models driving our solution, please visit our AI showcase page.

Carviz scans for any vehicle damage, rates its severity, delivers a total price of the vehicle, and compares that vehicle to others like it in the market

Kicking It Off: NAIAS - aka The Detroit Auto Show, Sept 11-15, 2023

Destination number one was the world-renowned North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), hosted annually in Detroit Michigan. From September 11-15, automotive industry professionals, media, journalists, investors, analysts, suppliers, vendors, government representatives, car enthusiasts and the general public all descended on Huntington Place. For Carviz, CEO Côme Pinczon du Sel and COO Rob Kazmarek were proud and humbled to be guests of Plug and Play Detroit. We hosted a booth, spoke to numerous customers and investors, walked the exhibition floor, and attended the evening charity event, headlined by award-winning reggae star Shaggy. We were even given a test drive in the new Hummer EV pickup! At over 9,000 pounds, and a 0-60 mph acceleration (or 0-100 kmh), the vehicle is incredibly impressive.

Carviz CEO Côme Pinczon du Sel (left) and COO Rob Kazmarek test drive GMC’s new Hummer EV Pickup Truck at the 2023 Detroit Auto Show

We were happy to speak with qualified customers and investors throughout the event, and in the process refine both our value proposition and our beliefs surrounding our go-to-market opportunities.

Yet our true learnings came when we spent most of our final day in Troy, 20 minutes outside Detroit, walking a local dealer mall and pitching our no-risk solution to a variety of dealerships. After walking back and forth for the better part of the day, we were able to get in our rental vehicle with five signed letters of intent (LOIs). We attribute our success to the product itself - remote vehicle inspection, without any human overlay, is a compelling concept. Yet from the first meetings to the last, the key learnings were:

• What is the customer saying - we have a solution, but does that match their needs?
• Are they ready to be pitched - we met the customers where they were, and sometimes that meant coming back later or even calling next week
• Be succinct - we honed in on the criteria we learned mattered most: accuracy, ease of use, and low risk

Upon completion of our product refresh for the US market, we will revisit these customers and deliver a cost-savings, revenue-expanding product.

Rounding Into Form: TechCrunch Disrupt - Sept 18-22, 2023

With barely time to relax - we did have a nice dinner to celebrate our success on Friday evening in Detroit - we boarded a 6 am Saturday flight at Detroit Metro Airport (DTW) and headed to San Francisco International (SFO), where we met up with CTO Evan Barberousse and immediately began preparation for Startup Battlefield 200, hosted by TechCrunch as part of their Disrupt Conference. We were proud to attend as one of 200 startups, out of nearly 20,000 that applied globally (~1% acceptance!) to host a booth and pitch on stage. To say our booth was a hotbed of interest would be an understatement, a testament to the product, our preparation (55” TV plus swag), and free cookies to attract the eyes and noses of passers-by and initiate conversation.

Carviz CTO Evan Barberousse (middle) and CEO Côme Pinczon du Sel (right) speak with investors at the 2023 TechCrunch Disrupt Conference in San Francisco.

The feedback we received was overwhelmingly positive. While still actively following up on investor and customer contacts made in Detroit, we added ~20 fascinating customer leads - dealer groups, auto insurance agencies and ride-sharing companies to name the common ones, along with white label opportunities in Japan and Taiwan, car marketplaces in central and southeast Asia, and port inspection in Latin America. On top of that, we were able to speak with nearly 50 qualified investors. The Carviz concept - remote vehicle inspection - resonated instantly and deeply with just about everyone we spoke with.

We will be opening our seed round in early Q1'24, and the relationships formed will go a long way to a successful raise. We consistently heard we were "the best one here" or that our idea "makes so much sense" and “let’s definitely keep in touch.” Consistent and unceasing validation from customers and investors was hugely motivating. We were exhausted at the end of every day, and yet were just as pumped to get up and do it all again each day after.

For more on the type of customers we approach, and the value we add, please visit our Dealer page.

Why It Mattered: The Pitch, The Pitch, The Pitch

Our constant pitching - roughly between 300 and 500 times in the span of these two conferences - was invaluable. While before we could speak to the problem we were solving, now we had it down to one sentence. Previously we took too long to articulate our solution; now we speak to tightened efficiency, cost savings and increased customer satisfaction.

Our main focus was on delivering:

• The problem as we see it - inspections today are costly and time-consuming
• The solution - remote vehicle inspection, all AI, highly accurate, efficient, and affordable
• Delivered in an easily digestible 20 seconds

Carviz CEO Côme Pinczon du Sel on stage pitching Carviz at the 2023 TechCrunch Disrupt Conference as part of Startup Battlefield 200

Carviz is demonstrably superior to these expensive and inaccurate vehicle inspection methods of the past. Our solution expands reach for dealers that already have tight margins. We add trust to a market that struggles with fears of buying a lemon. And we can alleviate these issues for a world that has no near-term replacement for the 1.5 trillion cars on the road today. To say we have a large opportunity in front of us is putting it mildly.

For more on how we can facilitate transactions of used vehicles (UV), please visit our Remote Recovery page.

Looking Ahead: Our Roadmap for 2024

As we look towards 2024, we can see the beginning of a three-pronged strategy meeting at a key company inflection point: product release, customer development, and fundraising. Reflecting on the relationships made and experiences built, we see all three of these pillars blending into a unified company strategy to rapidly attack our market.

Stay tuned, as the journey is only just beginning! For more information, feel free to contact us to see how we can build the future of automotive inspection together.