Kukui Corp., the maker of the All-in-One Success Platform for the automotive aftermarket, announced it has secured $27 million in Series A funding.
The strategic growth investment from Memphis-based SSM Partners will provide Kukui with resources to accelerate continued platform innovation, rapid market expansion and expanded customer services and support accelerated growth in the automotive aftermarket, according to Kukui.
As part of the strategic growth investment, Jim Tallman, executive chairman of Innovative Interfaces and a former CEO with multiple companies, will be joining Kukui as executive chairman to support the management team as an advisor.
Since its launch in 2011, more than 2,000 auto repair businesses worldwide have trusted Kukui to manage their marketing, websites and customer-retention needs, according to the company. And they have relied on the Kukui platform to provide them with deep analytics about the health and success of those programs.
“We are very excited to complete this transaction with the team at SSM Partners,” Westerlund said. “The past year Kukui has seen record-breaking growth month after month. This investment signals the launch of our next phase of transformational growth. Clearly, the experience SSM brings in helping businesses scale will be invaluable to Kukui, but equally important is their match in both company style and culture with Kukui.
“I am also very grateful to welcome Jim to our team. His 30-plus-year career of management and business-development experience will help us with our strategic plans of investing in new product innovation and pursuing market expansion.”
Tallman added: “I am very pleased to be able to support this very talented management team given the clear market leadership and innovative culture that they have developed since the inception of the company.
Kukui’s focus is to enable shop owners to be successful both personally and professionally, and to provide them with solutions that build trust between motorists and their local repair shop, the company noted.
“Kukui was built by listening to and solving customer needs, and that formula has fueled remarkable customer satisfaction and growth,” said Hunter Witherington, partner at SSM Partners. “We are excited to partner with management to help support the expansion of their market-leading platform.”
