DriverSide has raised $5.3 million in a second round of funding for its site that gives advice to car owners.
The idea behind the site is to help drivers get the most out of their cars -- a message that the company says works well in a recession. The site also helps owners buy or sell cars. Unlike other sites, the company says it focuses on the entire lifecycle of car ownership, from purchase to disposal or sale.
DriverSide will use the money to invest in revenue-generating partnerships with automotive services companies. Allegis Capital came aboard as a new investor and led this recent round, which also included earlier backers Catamount Ventures and the San Francisco company's founders. To date, the company has raised $8.4 million. It also announced a new partnership today with Integrated Services, maker of LubeSoft, a cash register management system for lube shop owners.
Starting in April, DriverSide will create online customer "garages" for Integrated Services' lube shop operators, which number more than 2,500. These virtual garages keep consumers updated on car care issues by sending regular automated email alerts for servicing, recalls and other news.
The company was founded in the fall of 2007 by Trevor Traina, Jad Dunning and Adam Jackson. It has 25 employees. Both Dunning, chief executive of DriverSide, and Traina have worked together in the past at CompareNet, which was sold to Microsoft, and StepUp Commerce, which was sold to Intuit.
There are, of course, a ton of car sites out there from Cars.com to Car Talk. Other recent entrants include RepairPal. DriverSide released its beta site in June of 2008 and will formally launch the site later this year. It has 250,000 registered users and has recorded several million unique visitors.