BUFFALO, NY – ACV Auctions today announced that it has raised $5 million in venture funding, led by Tribeca Venture Partners, with participation from SoftBank Capital NY (SBNY), Armory Square Ventures and Rand Capital (Nasdaq: RAND). In addition, the company appointed Synacor (Nasdaq: SYNC) founder George Chamoun as Chief Executive. In conjunction with the financing, Brian Hirsch from Tribeca Venture Partners and Jordan Levy from SBNY have joined the Board of Directors.

ACV Auctions is an advanced mobile platform that enables used-car dealers to view, bid and purchase car inventory via online auctions. These live auctions are conducted from franchise dealer lots and last just 20 minutes – this saves dealers time and money. Traditional car auctions, in comparison, take place off-site in a physical location with multiple bidding lanes in progress simultaneously; this makes it difficult to provide transparency on wholesale vehicles.

George Chamoun has joined the company as its Chief Executive Officer. He replaces ACV Auctions Co-founder Joe Neiman, who will focus on market development.

Chamoun brings with him a successful track record of accomplishment as an entrepreneur and senior executive. He co-founded Synacor right out of college in 1998, and spent the next two decades building it into a trusted technology and revenue partner for some of the largest video and communication providers in the world. Chamoun also serves as Chairman of Launch NY, a non-for-profit organization supporting the startup ecosystem for Upstate New York.

As an early angel investor in ACV, Chamoun was drawn by the company’s long term potential. Since then, he says, ACV’s performance – and the overwhelmingly positive response of customers – has further affirmed his confidence in the company.

“In just one year, more than 800 dealerships registered for our mobile service, proving the value of our highly innovative service – these are the same reasons we also attracted top venture capital firms to fuel our growth,” Chamoun noted. “We are proving the case that dealers prefer to purchase wholesale inventory on ACV, because we enable transparency, trust and faster access to fresh trades.”

He added: “ACV Auctions is to car auctions what broadband was to dialup: a superior experience by every measure. Our team is proud to partner with franchise and independent dealers throughout the country by offering a proven service that adds tremendous value to their businesses, and to the dealer industry overall.”

Brian Hirsch, Tribeca Ventures, said: “Tribeca invests in world class entrepreneurs and radical innovation — not incremental improvement. ACV already proved in its first year that it can transform the wholesale automotive sector and has a proven team of entrepreneurs that understand how to build a high growth business.”

ACV Auctions Co-founder Joe Neiman will continue focusing on customers. “Having owned a used car business myself and spending years buying cars in physical auctions, I understand the many challenges that dealers face,” he said. “With ACV, we have created a service that significantly reduces risk for used car dealerships.”

ACV was the Winner of the 2015, 43North $1 million dollar business plan competition, which each year draws startup applicants globally. “43North is excited to see ACV Auctions receive $5 million in venture funding, and we welcome George Chamoun as their CEO,” said John T. Gavigan, 43North Executive Director. “We look forward to seeing ACV Auctions continue to grow and revolutionize the wholesale auto auction process.”

About ACV Auctions

Our mission is to become the most trusted source in the industry for purchasing wholesale vehicles. Our product — the ACV app — leverages mobile to maximum benefit, enabling users to take a vehicle condition report and instantly alert buyers that a 20-minute auction has begun. Simply stated, our technology modernizes the entire arc of auction operations, including account management, title management, floor plan purchasing, arbitration, and facilitating logistics. To learn more, please visit us at www.acvauctions.com

About 43North

43North is a $5 million startup competition, awarding cash prizes to some of the best entrepreneurs and startups from around the world. 43North winners also receive free incubator space in Buffalo for one year, guidance from mentors in related fields, and access to other business incentive programs such as START-UP NY. 43North operates through the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion initiative and grants of $6 million from the New York Power Authority and $1 million from Empire State Development. Additional support comes from National Grid and several other sponsors. For a full list of sponsors and more information about 43North, visit www.43north.org.