Impel Acquires Outsell
Impel, a provider of customer lifecycle management solutions for the automotive industry, has acquired Outsell, a customer engagement platform provider, for more than $100 million in cash and Impel equity.
The acquisition helps Impel create an end-to-end artificial intelligence-powered sales and marketing automation platform and creates a combined company serving more than 8,000 dealers in more than 50 countries.
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 customer outreach at scale. In the past 12 months, the company has delivered more than 500 million messages via text, email, direct mail, and social media to 61 million consumers.
"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. This acquisition enables us to provide a unified AI platform that connects every channel and touchpoint across the automotive retailing ecosystem," said Devin Daly, CEO and co-founder of Impel, in a statement. "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. We are thrilled to have found a like-minded company that shares our passion for transforming the automotive retailing industry, and we couldn't be more excited to welcome the Outsell team to Impel for the next chapter of our growth."
"As the leader in automotive AI, Impel has brought tremendous innovation to the industry and the transformation of retailing that is now taking place," said Mike Wethington, Outsell's founder and CEO, in a statement. "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."
"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 new 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, creates a unique ability to deliver truly frictionless, personalized experiences on demand," said Michael Quigley, Impel's co-founder and chief strategy officer, in a statement.