Ever raises $31M to modernize EV retail with AI

Ever, which bills itself as an AI-native, full-stack auto retail business for electric vehicles, has raised $31 million in a Series A funding round. The investment was led by Eclipse, a venture capital firm, with participation from Ibex Investors, Lifeline Ventures, and JIMCO, the investment arm of the Saudi Arabian Jameel family. Ever’s co-founder and CEO, Lasse-Mathias Nyberg, and his team set out in 2022 to reduce the complexities of buying and selling cars, which typically trigger hundreds or thousands of different actions for a retailer to complete.

The startup’s core technology is an orchestration layer, or operating system, designed to manage the deterministic workflows behind transactions, including appraisals, pricing, and titling. Jiten Behl, a partner at Eclipse who spent eight years on the leadership team of EV manufacturer Rivian, argues that existing point solutions are highly inefficient. “These bolt-on AI tools are band-aids,” Behl said, comparing them to repackaging combustion engines into electric vehicle frames rather than designing an EV from the ground up. He noted that auto retail is a perfect candidate for AI disruption because it is highly rules-based and labor-intensive. Nyberg asserted that integrating these processes into a single platform has allowed Ever’s sales team to be two to three times more productive than they would be otherwise, boosting margins that can be passed to customers.

Ever currently operates its hybrid model of an online marketplace and physical locations in the United States, where interest in electric vehicles has cooled a bit. To navigate these market conditions, Nyberg has not ruled out the possibility of Ever buying or selling used combustion cars in the future, though the company intends to focus on electric vehicles in the near term. The startup is betting that its unified customer experience can capture market share in an automotive retail sector where digital-first transactions still remain in the single digits. Behl noted that customers will continue to gravitate toward digitally-led experiences that remove the friction of buying and selling a car.

Why it matters

Ever is attempting to modernize the automotive retail experience for electric vehicles by using an AI-native, full-stack approach to handle transaction workflows, aiming to reduce friction and improve productivity.