Philadelphia startup EverWash has acquired a vehicle identification and analytics company for $106 million to enhance its car wash membership platform.
New York-based OmniX Labs built a platform that connects with a car wash or lube center’s existing cameras and analyzes video in real time, relaying information about the make, model, color and license plate number of customers’ vehicles. Combined with EverWash’s car wash membership program, car wash owners can track vehicles coming in and out of their locations and which customers are members.
The deal was a mix of cash and stock, EverWash CEO Scott Caplan said. It is expected to close in the next two weeks, and EverWash will add OmniX’s staff of about 30 employees to its existing 50-member team. The OmniX staff will remain in New York, Caplan said.
The move comes less than two months after EverWash raised $5 million to fuel its growth and hire.
The acquisition will increase revenue “dramatically” for EverWash, which was previously an OmniX customer, Caplan said. The startup is projecting about $100 million in revenue for 2021.
EverWash offers flat-rate monthly memberships for car washes at participating locations within its system. EverWash sets up a membership platform for free at each participating car wash, including training staff, building a membership website and handling customer service calls. It then takes a percentage of each membership sold.
The startup works with a number of unmanned car washes — self-service washes that run without staff — and it began using OmniX’s service to ensure the cars coming into the car washes were EverWash members, Caplan said.
The CEO realized EverWash could do much more with the data OmniX tracks, such as determining what percentage of customers that go through a car wash become members, or how many are converted into members during a day. At manned car washes, staff can be alerted to a first-time customer or a customer that is not a member that may be a frequent visitor, he said. It can also track how long it takes cars to get washed day to day.
“It really starts a conversation for us and really gives us the full picture of what’s going on at the car wash all the time,” Caplan said.
The OmniX service platform will be installed at every existing EverWash car wash — about 700 locations across 48 states, he said. OmniX also has its own set of about 500 customers that EverWash does not currently work with, which could help the startup expand.
OmniX will operate as a subsidiary of EverWash, and it will continue working with its existing car wash and lube center customers. There’s also an opportunity for its technology to be used in areas like parking lots and quick-serve restaurants with drive-thrus, Caplan said.
“A lot of this stuff, the car wash owners can use to build on efficiency,” Caplan said. “But really, at the end of the day, it all drives revenue and goes right to the bottom line.”
