Modal was founded in 2015 out of
Khosla Ventures. The idea came because there were very few solutions allowing users to buy new cars online but also allowing auto dealers to sell them. After spending a number of months looking for a car himself after he sold his first business to
Yahoo! in 2013, the founder realized that the process was incredibly time-consuming and could be streamlined. In an interview with
TechCrunch he stated,
"it became shockingly clear that ecommerce had not reached new cars." When speaking about the competition, they suggested that the vast majority of large car sales websites were effectively online magazines, listing cars that you could purchase in person. After the idea of the company was established, Next Technologies then entered seed accelerator
Y Combinator in 2016. They also attended the AutoVentures Conference in 2016, where Modal was listed as a contestant for the main award and pitched their product as the future of the auto industry. Drive Motors was announced the winner following Modal's presentation. In June 2019, the company rebranded as Modal Commerce. Modal signed up their first enterprise client to date in 2016, with
Asbury Automotive Group agreeing to test the software at a handful of their dealerships. Later that year, Asbury announced they were extending the
software to more of their dealerships. Modal consequently added clients including Honda, Nissan, Porsche, Lithia, Group One, and others. ==Mechanics==