August 25, 2011 (Burlington, VT) – Dealer.com, the global leader in automotive internet marketing solutions, today announced that Accel Partners, the global venture capital and growth equity firm and early investor in Facebook, Groupon and Rovio/Angry Birds among others, has made a minority investment in the company. Todd MacLean, Partner at Accel, will join the company’s Board of Directors, replacing the seat previously held by Don Hall.
“We are excited by the opportunity to partner with one of the world’s most successful technology investors,” said Mark Bonfigli, CEO of Dealer.com. “We view the backing of Accel Partners as a vote of confidence in Dealer.com’s mission to become the preeminent digital marketing partner for the automotive industry and look forward to their guidance and counsel as we continue growing and developing valuable solutions for our customers.”
“We are thrilled to partner with Mark, Rick and the rest of the team at Dealer.com and look forward to helping them continue to grow an exceptional company,” commented Todd MacLean, Partner at Accel Partners. “Over the past year and a half, we’ve come to know and admire the company and its core values. While we are clearly impressed by their industry-leading technology platform, it is the ability and passion of the team and the incredible culture they’ve built over time that truly differentiates Dealer.com in our eyes.
“At Accel, we believe that with continued expansion of new distribution channels and increasingly decentralized decision-making, the key to a software company’s success today has very much reverted to basics – building truly great products that customers love to use. In this regard, Dealer.com’s long list of “raving fans” and industry awards is great testimony to its historic success.  Perhaps more importantly, we believe the Company’s emphasis on building a deep-rooted culture – which allows it to attract, retain and motivate great people – will drive continued, repeatable success in the future.”
In the last several years, Dealer.com has seen rapid acceleration in sales, customers and product introductions. Revenues reached $85 million in 2010, an increase of over 60 percent from 2009 and more than triple the 2008 level, and the company increased R&D spending more than 100 percent while adding key retail and OEM client relationships to its portfolio.
Bonfigli concluded: “As the online and social media landscapes continue to evolve at an increasingly rapid pace, our partnership with Accel will strengthen our ability to transform the experience in the automotive industry.”
About Accel Partners
Founded in 1983, and managing nearly $9 billion in capital, Accel Partners has a long history of partnering with outstanding entrepreneurs and management teams to build world-class businesses. Â Accel today invests globally using dedicated teams and market-specific strategies for local geographies, with offices in Palo Alto, California, New York City, London, New Delhi and Bangalore, as well as in China via its partnership with IDG-Accel.
Accel has helped entrepreneurs build over 300 successful technology companies, many of which have defined their categories, including AdMob, Alfresco, Atlassian, BBN, Brightcove, ComScore, Etsy, Facebook, Gameforge, GlamMedia, Groupon, Imperva, Infinera, Interwoven, IronPlanet, JBoss, Kayak, Macromedia, metroPCS, OPOWER, Polycom/PictureTel, Playfish, Portal Software, QlikTech, Quidsi (Diapers.com), Rapt, Real Networks, Responsys, Riverbed, SupportSoft, UUNet, Veritas, Walmart.com, Webroot, Wily Technology, Wonga, XenSource and Zimbra. For more information, please visit the Accel Partners web site at www.accel.com, or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/accel