Ignite & Scale with Bumper Co-Founders James Jackson and Jack Allman

In this first episode of Ignite & Scale Mike talks to co Founders of Bumper, James Jackson, CEO and Jack Allman, COO.

Bumper is a UK-based financial service offering an innovative solution for car repairs and maintenance. It allows drivers to split the cost of car repairs into interest-free monthly instalments, eliminating the need for upfront payment. With over 4,000 service partners across the UK, Bumper provides access to reputable dealers, independent garages, body shops, and specialist repairers. The service is designed to make car maintenance more manageable financially, offering a quick, paperwork-free pre-approval process online, and supports over 500,000 UK drivers, ensuring widespread coverage and reliability.

Mike, James and Jack discuss their respective backgrounds in start-ups, how Bumper's is evolving, the biggest hurdles, the Series B funding success, plans for 2024 and what advice would James and Jack give to give entrepreneurs who are looking to scale their business, particularly
in light of current market conditions.

© Copyright Cambria Private Capital. All Rights Reserved

Creators and Guests

Host

Mike Allen

Managing Director at Cambria Private Capital

Guest

Jack Allman

Co-Founder & CCO at Bumper

Guest

James Jackson

CEO & Co-Founder @ Bumper

What is Ignite & Scale - The Cambria Private Capital Podcast with Mike Allen?

Our aim is to provide you, our listeners – whether you’re a budding founder, a keen investor, or simply an enthusiast of business innovation – with unique insights and perspectives that can only come from those who have truly walked the path of success. At Cambria Private Capital, we believe in more than just investment; we believe in nurturing potential, sparking growth, and building lasting relationships. Each episode is a step towards uncovering the strategies, challenges, and triumphs that define today’s business landscape. So, whether you're here to find your next investment opportunity or to gather inspiration for your entrepreneurial journey, you’re in the right place.

Hello and

welcome to the
very first episode of Ignite and Scale,

the podcast where we deep
dive into the stories of startup growth.

I'm thrilled to kick off our series
with special guests, the co-founders

of Bumper, a company that's truly
redefining the vehicle history space.

Bumpers made significant strides,
especially with the recent success

of the Series
B funding in a very challenging market.

Today,
we're going to explore their journey,

the evolution of their strategies,
and gather insights

that are not only inspiring
but also immensely valuable

for entrepreneurs and innovators
out there.

James Jack, good afternoon.

I like the afternoon you're telling us.

Yeah, no problem. No problem.

I mean, without further ado,
perhaps you could both provide us

with an intro
into your respective backgrounds

before we dive into some of the questions
I've got for you.

Yeah, great.

I'll kick off there, Mike. Yeah.

So I'm the CEO and co-founder of Bumper.

I started my career
and the current system on a graph schema

are some kind of top
ten UK accountancy firm and

I was involved in kind of
auditing management consultancy,

kind of a variety of other roles there
before kind of pivoting my career

a bit and moving into fast
growing tech startups.

So I was at a company
called BET Fair as at Sky.

I was also at Wonga,
which is kind of a fintech.

And then after that,

I worked and helped run

a portfolio business for

a tech V.C.

based based in London

and was involved there for a while
until eventually being introduced

to Jack
and coming up with the concepts of bumper.

Cool.

Yeah, I'll pick up now. So

my background

is automotive, I guess.

So you're following university
undergrad scheme in a different sector.

I took my family's business,
the parent company called BTC Fund,

which people may have heard of
and perhaps more better

pulled out to such platforms
they had that one could inquiry

makes a lot more relevant till we did
a bumper platform called Auto Racing.

Subsequently became a product into the

smartphone,

which was a vehicle.

Health tech tool is a big health tech tool
that identifies repair work.

Prices are presented to the customer,
which as we'll explore a bit more

perhaps on today,
instead of what the industry may know is

for, is kind of the core of what we do,
helping, helping drivers say yes

to more work and ultimately obviously
repairers convert more of that work.

And it was through that
that platform business that was

that was introduced
to James start of what we do can.

Yeah.

I mean just reflecting back on bumpy
his journey and I think

I've known you guys
for about six years now

and I remember as an advisor
to the company

working on some of the key
selling messages with you.

In fact, I think I sent you a copy of

a few days ago, but it
how is those key selling messages

that were relevant then

and how they evolved into today's
growth story and other any aspects

that have remained constant
and what's shifted significantly?

Yeah, it's interesting.

We did send that across
and it was actually quite an

it was interesting to reread that.

I think it was encouraging
is that yeah, things have moved on a lot

in the way that we have solved
this problem

in the technology that we utilize
both internally

and externally and within the dealer's
tech stack as well.

However, the core financial problem
that we're solving

is still a problem that pretty much exists

today as much as it did
perhaps a few years ago in certain cases

probably accelerated even more so,
which is really around

obviously, the conversion of service

and repair work and the affordability
that's associated with that.

And that's not to say this is always
a totally distressed purchase.

Obviously, for a lot of people,
it can be an element of

convenience that they're going
to get bored to work day to day.

But you know, perhaps stretching himself
to do so would be a problem.

So from my point of view,
we recognize that to do this,

you can have all of the parts available.

You could have technician time available,

you could
even have coach accounts available.

But if the customer doesn't have the funds
available due to expensive,

that's a difficult message to to convey
and ultimately to convert that work.

Really what we're doing
is addressing that core problem

and the way that we do
that, I would say, has evolved.

We're trying to make
that whole transaction a better experience

for all involved and ultimately equals
a much happier driver

at the end of it and greater customer
retention is an outcome that we're laser

focused on today
as we were as much as we were beforehand.

What has evolved is the other payment
products that we have around that as well.

So that's a cool buy. Now
pay later product.

I could name just four perhaps,

but many of our retailers now
also utilize all of the payments products

that are paid by card products,
facilitating credit, debit cards and

and who pay and Google pay, etc.

are paid by bank for processing
open banking transactions.

And then most recently what we call
PayPal, so actual physical machines.

So it's evolved to encapsulate any type of
payment or any type of customer journey.

But ultimately there's still a lot
of consistency in the way that we do this.

And you know, in terms
of the initial vision for the company,

you've expanded the services
as you've alluded to as well,

but what were they most pivotal moments
in your journey today, would you say?

Well, I.

Would probably say
the big inflection point came from fully

embedding our products
into the software of DNS.

You know, before
it was a completely standalone products

that relied on here,
the engagement of the service advisor.

And here we're very fortunate
that we have some incredibly engaged

high users,
kind of super users of our products.

And however, you know, the nature
of a service department, you know,

you have a lot of churn and you know,
a lot of people coming in, coming out.

And for them
always to be aware of the product

and how it works
is, you know, a challenge to scale.

Whereas

actually by embedding it into the vehicle
health check

process, the video platforms,

the DMS systems, it really enabled us

to scale without completely
relying on the service advisor.

So we had effectively two flows,
a fully digital one

that was completely within
the hands of the consumer and they could

approve the work and spread the cost
or pay the full amount.

And you know, accommodate

potentially a more digital focused
consumer

as well as continuing to have a standalone
product to our service device.

It could process that face to face
or over the telephone.

So that's
I think that was the big turning point

when we could offer both those
and to start to cater for a wider segment,

a larger demographic,
but also indeed is where

the stuff may not be as well trained
or as knowledgeable or new to the business

through these integrations,
we're transacting without them.

So that's really when we had a big
take off moment

and led to our first
institutional investors

for our series A funding round.

And what would you say was the biggest
or most interesting hurdle

that you've overcome, whether that's
operationally, strategically, financially?

Well, I think, you know, there's
always hurdles to be tell you overcome.

I think when you feel like

you've got to overcome
the kind of the biggest one

and then something else that comes around
the corner, I probably think about

the kind of the broader
journey of the business COVID.

You know, it's really a common answer to
that was a major hurdle

in the sense that overnight pretty much
everyone's businesses were shut down

and we were not immune to that, albeit
we still did it to a small extent.

But that massively,

I guess,

changed the way that we saw our business,

but actually importantly,
the way that our client,

the revenues, the franchise groups,
the retailers that we work with

viewed it as well.

So yes, that meant

there was obviously fewer vehicles
going through workshops.

But what it did mean coming out of it,
it did change the way that a lot

of those transactions took place.

It probably well,
it certainly forced a lot of retailers

to think about their digital channels
more.

You physically
couldn't have people coming on site

getting my cards prepared
and ultimately paid for equally.

It obviously put some pressure
or changes on people's income as well.

So very, very scary time for a fairly
significant period for us as a business.

But actually coming out of that,
I think there was some long term shifts

within the industry, within the driver
base and obviously with us as well.

That changed the way that people transact.

So it created an openness
around the conversation of affordability

and it was
perhaps a more positive conversation.

But equally the digital journeys
that James talked about that were perhaps

more focused on optimized, that ultimately
which sits at the core of that

and that's for me,
I think was a major hurdle that long term.

I think we've certainly benefited from
in the way that we and

my customer base
kind of addressed that coming out of it.

I guess, as you say, people started
talking about cost of living crisis.

People needed a solution
to help them through that.

And I guess, you know,
when you're offering a consistent service,

which makes a lot of sense
to the consumer as well,

that perhaps came into
its own as we came out of it.

And you had they expected the customer
journey

enhancements to make kind of a seamless
kind of transaction.

I mean, just turn into the series B,

I mean, huge congratulations on that.

They've been few and far between.

And in the current market,

what were the key kind of strategies
or insights that helped you

successfully secure that funding in what
was a very difficult funded environment?

Yeah, I think there were
a number of elements to this.

Firstly, you know,

only good businesses
without sounding too kind of

very good businesses
getting fed funding right now, you know,

you need to have strong unit
economics, good revenue growth.

And we're very fortunate
that we've we've grown from

we've grown kind of over ten X since 2020.

So, yeah, we've been doubling the business
consistently for the last few years,

which has really, really helped.

And I guess one of the other elements
is that we've,

we've built up trust with our investors
basically from the series.

So we've

go every

single month
we have a big list of management KPIs

that we set ourselves
targets how we perform with a long,

quite decent running commentary
that we provide every day, every investor.

So I think that helped develop trust
to show that

we would do what we said
we were going to do and that,

yeah, we're kind of on top of our numbers
and we have a lot of kind of live

reporting dashboards again that we have
available to our all our investors.

So I think that helps say, yeah, actually
every investor we had from a series

A participated in our Series B
and actually a few of them

doubled the amount they put in from A
to B, So that certainly helped.

But being completely honest,
it was a real numbers game as well

because we had to kiss a hell
of a lot of frogs before we got. Yes.

And I think we're probably a bit
naive on the VC world

when we first started pitching, you know,
five, six, seven years ago and didn't

quite appreciate just how many pitches
you have to do until you get that. Yes.

And and our series was pretty similar.

So it was having that and

determination

every time you got to know
was just a piece of back up again

10 minutes later did a same pitch
to a brand new investor

and try and access enthusiastic
as you did previously.

So it certainly wasn't always easy.

And I think we had like a hundred no's.

I mean,
it was getting pretty bleak to invest.

But, you know, I think we still had

belief in the products in the business.

And I think the final point is that we
we raised

when we're in a position of strength,
when we were growing strongly

and we had a lot of cash in the bank,
yeah, I think a big mistake founders

make is leaving it
until you have a36 month runway

and then you really are beholden
to that investor.

And in this market they're squeezing you
and valuations at the best of times.

But if it's suddenly running

out of cash as well, you know,
it really puts you in that weak position.

So we probably raised a year
before we needed to.

And looking back now, I think that was

definitely the right decision.

I guess not that the hard work
will start again as well

with new investors, with existing
investors doubling down on you as well.

I know you're launching some new products.

Are you able to kind of talk
about any plans for 2024?

And then maybe as a follow
up to that question,

how you intend to leverage air
with enough?

Yeah, as you said one briefly, we are more
than just a buy now pay later company.

Yes. Is at the core of what we do
is we're best known for but we recognize

that not every customer
wants to spread the cost.

You know,
they certainly want to transact digitally,

but they may want to pay in full,
which is why we introduced that to you.

That was managing to keep it as well,

where you physically couldn't
come on site to transact.

But we launched our pay by card product,
so the SMS email

generated link or ops,
it could be embedded into

any of the platforms
that we've mentioned already

that gives those people the ability
to transact very quickly digitally that be

and allows the retailer to secure payment
and without actually having to

come on site or if they do come on site,
adding to the the queue of people

and these pinch points at the start
or end of a data collection or drop off

and we then subsequently have launched
a pay by by product.

So I think people will be growing familiar

with open banking as a concept experience
the bank to bank transfers,

again, recognizing

some of the shifts in the dealer
ecosystem of this huge cost

initiatives being put in place
across all our retail partners

and we've got a massive ability
to reduce their transaction fees.

So the banking carries
a much, much lower transaction fee,

super secure
can facilitate instant payment.

There's been a great reception
to that product

and we're seeing utilize
on both sides of the car

boot sales on Aftersales,
which has been really exciting.

And then the actual physical machines
which we call paper, they actually

bring together all of our payment options
into one physical terminal.

So if you've got customers at the desk,

whether they want to spread the cost
to pay in full by card or you can bank it,

we can facilitate that
through a branded journey

that fully reconciles within the DMS
to the ledger accounts, etc..

So really exciting, great tech,
much more nascent than or the products,

but something that we're looking to

roll out en masse and then going back to
to the other part of your question there

about other markets that we're

the reason we did some
we've actually not to go to headcount.

We recognize that we've got
a big opportunity in all markets.

We don't want to dilute our focus
in the UK.

So we're doubling down on our UK

kind of team and infrastructure,
but also adding to our headcount in

in Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and
Republic of Ireland, where fundamentally

the problem that we get about on the call
that we're looking to solve.

And so what unexpected costs
potentially about

customer outcome,
lack of retention of all the cars

that problem exists in those markets
as much as it does here in the UK.

So we see that as an opportunity
that we can we can capture

from what we've learned here in the UK,
and that's something that we're, you know,

we're really excited about 2024
and becoming a truly international

payments business, not solely
just the UK as well.

James
I don't want to pick up on the point, but.

Yeah, I mean we've actually always used
elements of I, you know,

probably the last four or five years

kind of using machine
learning for our underwriting.

You know,
we have such big datasets that we process

to really get the most out

of that and optimize our exit rates
and ensure we're lending responsibly

and price and generating good raise rates.

You know, it's important
to leverage that technology.

So that's always been
kind of a pretty fundamental part of

of the business,
and it really differentiates us

to the kind of people generally.

He don't collect the same amounts of data.

I mean, we collect the consumer
finance data for the consumer,

but also the vehicle types, the engine
sizes, MFT performance, you know,

you name it, hundreds
if not thousands of additional datasets

that really give us unique insights.

So that's one point
and that's only going to develop.

And you know, as AI becomes
more sophisticated,

we'll be putting more elements of that
into our underwriting and and processing.

And I guess the exciting elements
that we're using

are much, much more recently
a kind of around marketing.

So, you know, when we do

testimonial videos for the UK,
you know, within minutes

you can generate German, Spanish, Dutch

versions at incredibly good standards.

So Pense, whereas before
we would have you spent thousands

of pounds of having localized
production teams filming it.

So elements like that all our SCA,
all our content

and a lot of our sales processes
now leverage

in terms of and Blanca emailing

prospects across Europe
or writing very detailed

detailed personal messages.

We've even been trying it
in the call centers as well

for some of the kind of more
basic tests and requirements.

So really you know, it should and
is touching every part of the business.

We had one of the UK's leading AI experts
coming into the business

and presenting to the whole company

a couple of months ago
and we had a two hour workshop

with our senior management team again,
just making sure that we're learning

best practice of how
this can be leveraged within our space,

but also being aware of some of the risks,
you know, ensuring

that your own data is protected
and secure and isn't

available to the wide the wider world.

So yeah, there's certainly risks.

But I think if you're going in there with
your eyes open, have policies in place,

protect your data,

which is obviously incredibly crucial,

then you know, there's
a lot of upsides to it.

And, you know, we're certainly excited
about how we can continue to leverage it

across the business.

And finally, just to wrap up,

what's the single bit of advice
that both for you

individually would give entrepreneurs
who are starting out or looking

to scale their business, particularly
in light of current market conditions?

I think from my side as well, James
and I on today's podcast is the founders.

I think there's obviously
a wider team of people

that are, you know, massively responsible
for what we do today the growth,

the business,

the health of the business, what you said
in terms of market conditions,

I think for me one of the best things
would be doing as best as possible.

What a great team around you,
you know, a team of people.

But fundamentally,
you enjoy the company as well.

You know, when times are tough
and we've had some very, very tough times,

I think you need to be able to

to rely on those people and also be able
to spend time in the company is key.

You do something huge amounts of time.

James not joking actually
about the amount of time we've we spend

together of late is is is extensive
perhaps during that time

arguably the a good time
to get a good amount of people together

you that's when you

really kind of see the country
character people

you know when times are good everybody's
happy to be you know part of it.

The whole success has many fathers
and kind of narrative.

It's when times are hard
and it's pull together

and think we've got
some great members of team,

they've got some super long
standing members of our senior team

that are as as responsible

for the growth of the business.

So for me, it's about getting
the best people around you as possible.

Yeah,
I mean, I completely agree with that.

You need to be enjoying the work.

You want to be coming in to work and,

you know, looking forward to it
rather than dreading it.

So completely agree with that.

I mean, I think the other characteristic
is definitely tenacity.

I mean, you talked about the series B,
We will attend hundreds of pitches

during a series
B, probably a similar number, it

seems, is a
you know, it's when you have a know

that you pick yourself back up again
and keep that enthusiasm.

So tenacity and you that's
definitely applies to the sales team.

You know, there's been so many groups
over the years who said, no, no, no, no.

And then the 50th time in asking
suddenly is a yes.

So, yeah, I think that's been a huge part
of Jack's success.

You know, we now have over 5000.

This is huge testament
to the success of him and his team.

And I think the final point probably is,

you know, the expression that,
you know, perfection is the enemy of good

and I do think founders of an idea

try and make it perfect
and spend hours and hours and hours

thinking and strategizing without just
actually getting on with it and doing it.

But it might not be perfect from day one.

But I think that action
and taking a bit of a punt

is the key to a successful founder.

And you know, you need a NPV to get life
and trying

to make something perfect that doesn't
then have market sets could be too late.

So you're much better at getting things
live, learning from them

and improving them as you go rather
than trying to have this perfect product.

And day 100%.

Well, just really appreciate your time
and sharing some of those

valuable insights and hopefully
have you on in the next 6 to 9 months.

But thanks for your time.
Much appreciated.

Cheers. Mike.

Big Yeah, thank you for having us, Mike.

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