80 / ENTREPRENEUR.COM / August 2019UAE startup AlgoDriven uses its
proprietary data platform to help
accurately price and identify used cars
by PAMELLA DE LEONDRIVING
EFFICIENCY
IN THE
AUTOMOTIVE
INDUSTRY
“WE’RE OBSESSIVE ABOUT
ACCURACY AND QUALITY-
ENSURING THAT WE
PRODUCE THE BEST POSSIBLE
PRODUCTS FOR OUR CLIENTS,
AND BUILD IN FEEDBACK
LOOPS THAT WE CAN KEEP
IMPROVING. FINALLY, WE’RE
TACKLING THIS PROBLEM ON
A GLOBAL SCALE, STARTING IN
THE MENA REGION."START IT UP Q&A
IMAGE COURTESY ALGODRIVEN | ALGODRIVEN.XYZB
uying a used car in
the UAE has often
been likened to
walking through
a minefield, with
the process of
having to assess a
car’s capabilities often causing
mental dilemmas like no other.
One startup is hoping to make
buying a used vehicle easier
by streamlining the process of
assessment and evaluation be-
fore a purchase with the help
of its proprietary vehicle data
platform. Co-founders Glenn
Harwood and Jaron Crossland
initially built AlgoDriven after
growing frustrated at the pro-
cess of evaluating used cars.
“We decided to build a mobile
app to help car dealers with
this problem- valuing used
cars they wish to purchase or
trade-in,” says Harwood. “Thatevolved from there, as we
found that banks, insurance,
fleet, and classifieds all face
a similar problem.” The duo
both have extensive experience
in the automotive industry-
Crossland’s family has owned
car dealerships for generations
and has run dealerships brands
like Mercedes-Benz, Mazda,
Chrysler, Jeep and Kia, while
Harwood has had stints with
Mercedes-Benz in Australia
and Abu Dhabi, as well as
BMW in Dubai.Having launched in mid-2017,
AlgoDriven’s core product is
the EvalExpert mobile app,
which car dealerships use to
evaluate used cars to purchase
or trade-in against new ones.
“It streamlines the whole
process from start to finish,
giving them the confidence
to make competitive trade-in
offers,” Harwood says. “This
allows them to sell more cars,
and the consumer ultimately
benefits from competitive
trade-in prices.” Using its
proprietary vehicle data
platform, AlgoDriven offers
a complete vehicle appraisal
solution, consisting of a mobile
app, a desktop dashboard,
integrations to existing
software, and website plug-
ins. AlgoDriven’s enterprise
products also identify a car’s
factory vehicle identification
number (VIN), whether it’s
in the country of its original
registration, outstanding
recalls for issues such as faulty
airbags, as well as the date
of first vehicle registration.
It follows a vehicle pricing
method based on data from a
car’s VIN, macro and market
factors (and even seasonal
events such as Ramadan), anddepreciation curves. According
to the AlgoDriven website,
there’s also a DriveExpert
feature coming up, which
will allow users to manage a
dealership’s test drive process
to give insights, analytics,
and data to convert more
drives into sales. The startup’s
products are built specifically
for the GCC market, plus
Australia and New Zealand,
with China and Hong Kong
next on its list.
It’s an ambitious list of
features, and as with any
startup, acquiring the first
customer was a pivotal
and rather difficult step for
AlgoDriven as well. Harwood
and Crossland leaned on their
personal networks to get their
first few customers, and they
made a conscious decision
to invest in the product first,
rather than in marketing. “We
believe an amazing product
will lead to customers who are
raving fans, and they will do
our marketing for us.” The bet
paid off, as once the startup
got a handful of customers,
it began to snowball from
there, and their philosophy, as
Harwood puts it, has proven to
be right so far. This response