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Champ Titles Raised $18M from Point72 Ventures
Champ Titles Raised $18M from Point72 Ventures

Architect Partners was the exclusive Financial Advisor to Champ Titles.

Transaction Overview

On March 27, 2024, Cleveland-based digital title and registration platform Champ Titles announced an $18 million Series C equity round led by Point72 Ventures with participation by existing investors.

Company Description

Champ Titles provides a digital title and registration suite to streamline the vehicle titling process. Their platform enables the creation of legal, digital titles for easy transfer and verification, serving insurance carriers, lenders, state governments, auto dealers, and owners. Stakeholders, including state motor vehicle departments, lenders, and vehicle owners, benefit from a unified and transparent system, where all information is readily accessible and transaction times are markedly reduced. The governance of the digital platform is established through clear guidelines, ensuring all parties adhere to the updated processes and regulations.

Champ Titles’ success is measured by the elimination of more than 5 million pieces of paper annually on average per state; a reduction in processing time from 40-60 days to a matter of hours; increased productivity of DMV title clerks processing more than five times as many titles per day; and the improved experience for consumers in each state that has adopted Champ Titles’ solutions. Over the last twelve months, the company has successfully onboarded new states including New Jersey, Kentucky, and Illinois, and expanded its relationship with West Virginia by creating the first National Digital Titling Clearinghouse (NDTC). Through these efforts, the company has grown rapidly with revenue increasing by more than 300% year over year. 

Founded in 2018 by CEO, Shane Bigelow, the company now has 63 employees and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Funding

In this Series C funding round, Champ Titles raised $18M from Point72 Ventures and existing investors including W.R. Berkley Corporation, Eos Venture Partners, Guidewire Software, and Rev1 Ventures, bringing the total amount raised since inception to $45M. 

In the prior Series B round, Champ Titles raised $13M from Guidewire Software, Eos Venture Partners, and Ally Ventures.

Before that, Champ Titles raised $13.5M in 2021 in a Series A. Emergents, now Architect Partners, served as the exclusive Financial Advisor for that financing. 

Competition

Champ Titles’ biggest competitors are existing state DMVs deciding to be a software company and developing solutions on their own or via large systems developers.  However, they also compete with other digital title networks such as Cario and Oxhead Alpha/Tezos. In addition, technology-enabled DMV solutions such as Fast Enterprises are seen as competitive but don’t offer the same efficacy.

 

Architect Partners’ Perspective

Champ Titles’ SaaS-based solutions present a compelling example of blockchain-enabled infrastructure solving real-world problems.  By focusing on the needs and pain points of legacy auto title, registration, and lien processing, Champ has leveraged the power of blockchain to transform critical government services.  The result is exponentially accelerated processing time for DMV constituents, with improved accuracy and reduced cost.  Yet Champ’s solutions capture many key benefits of on-chain data processing – which include trust, transparency, data integrity, security, and efficiency – without users even being aware of their blockchain foundations.  

While much attention is focused on recent resilience in crypto asset prices, we believe 2024 will see significant growth in non-speculative enterprise applications for distributed ledger technology.  Champ’s successful raise demonstrates investor interest in practical and scalable solutions to real-world problems.

Insights

Q2 2024 Crypto M&A and Financing Report

Eric F. Risley
July 2, 2024
DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT

Download the full report above.

Elliot Chun spoke with Talia Kaplan at CNBC Crypto World to discuss key takeaways from Architect Partners’ Q2 Report (Interview linked here at the 04:00 mark).

Prepared by Architect Insights

 

State of the Crypto Markets

Since our founding fifteen years ago, we have published strategy and market research that we call Architect Insights to separate the signal from the noise. We do our best to speak in plain language, simplify without losing the nuance, present the facts clearly and in context, and share a bit of perspective. Each of our team members has earned perspective from direct experience closely collaborating with senior management, Boards of Directors, and investors for multiple decades.

 

Major Positive Inflection Point Happening Now

We are now beginning a major growth phase for the crypto and digital asset industry, which will make our past look quaint. This Architect Partners Q2 2024 M&A and Financing Report highlights why we have confidence in that statement. Highlights include:

 

1. Confidence and Momentum are Back

As the second quarter of 2024 ends, our self-induced crypto winter is past. Professionalism, risk management, ethical behavior, and “doing it right” are finally becoming the foundational principles of crypto. When challenging situations arise, I’m often reminded that the eventual resolution is worth the journey. Crypto, as an industry, is now in a far better place than two years ago.

 

2. Crypto Has Surpassed the Internet for the First Time

Architect Partners published “Family Ties: The Internet & Crypto” earlier this year. Our thesis, born from personal experience with both disruptions, is that the internet and crypto have strikingly similar distinguishing characteristics.

A refresh of our data-led analyses validates the claim that crypto is in a “far better place” today. For the first time in history, the total value created by the crypto industry has now exceeded the pace of the internet. (see page 4)

 

3.  Green Lights are Flashing for Crypto Mergers & Acquisitions 

The announced transaction value in Q2 2024 exceeds the combined value from the past eight quarters, at $2.7B, a crypto sector record high. (see page 5)

 

4.  Private Financings are Recovering

Seed and early-stage financings remain active and comprise the majority of transaction count and capital committed. Growth stage financings remain muted. (see page 6)

 

5.  Public Companies Increasingly Active

The Architect Partners Crypto Index of public market value was up 24% year-to-date. Bitcoin outperformed with a 35% gain, but crypto beat the overall equities market, as represented by the S&P 500’s gain of +15% over the same period. (see page 7)

 

Other Highlights

We’ve also conducted a deep dive into subsector dynamics and much more in the following report. We always appreciate feedback and comments, and as always, our team stands ready if you are considering strategic financing or M&A. Our full team contacts can be found on page 43.

 

Eric F Risley

Founder & Managing Partner

June 29, 2024