Used car startup Shift raises $140 million in funding

California is indeed turning out to be a land of cutting-edge innovations in technology, many of which are aimed at making life simpler for the average person. One such innovative idea plans to make buying of used cars completely reliable, without potential buyers having to worry about quality and performance. The startup named Shift which was founded in 2013 plans to solve all the problems associated with the purchase of used cars. It just closed a Series D round of funding, raising an amazing $140 million.

The latest round of funding was led by automobile retail giant Lithia Motors, with its CEO Bryan DeBoer joining Shift’s board of directors. Previous investors include BMW iVentures, DCM, DFJ, Goldman Sachs Investment Partners and Highland Capital. What’s interesting is that this investment consists of $70 million in debt and $71 million in equity.

The company is based in San Francisco and developed an online platform to allow customers to shop for used cars, book test drives and even get appropriate financing. This platform also enables sellers to sell their vehicles. Shift carries out a comprehensive set of over a 150 tests and inspections to ascertain the quality and performance of used cars before authorizing its resale. It currently operates in California and has an awesome 80% of the market share there. It now plans to expand to other states and scale its operations.