Vehiko

Vehiko.com is dedicated to ensuring buyers the lowest possible price on a new car while providing dealers with guaranteed sale in an easy-to-use and efficient web-based reverse auction platform.

Edward Agabs, Founder

Edward Agabs has built a successful career as a senior-level finance and business management professional, serving in executive roles since 1996.  In 2003 Mr. Agabs Founded and operated BoatQuest.com, an online classified advertising portal specializing in yacht sales: targeting yacht brokers, dealers and consumers.  Mr. Agabs built this business up to 40% of yacht brokers and dealers using the portal and recently sold the business in March 2011 to an Active Interest Media. BoatQuest.com achieved the status of being the 3rd leading boat and yacht listing company in US.  He led the development and implementation of corporate business strategy, and orchestrated efforts surrounding mergers and acquisitions and the negotiation of strategic business partnerships.  Mr. Agabs remains advisor to BoatQuest.com today. 

Mr. Agabs held Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer roles for Corymb Capital Management from 2000 to 2003, a commodity hedge fund start-up where he oversaw daily P&L, streamlined financial transaction tracking through integration of accounting systems and back office procedures, and was responsible for growing AUM $50 million in three years.  Five years prior he began as a Controller with AMT-Trade, Inc., followed by a promotion to Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer after just one year.  Inaugural professional experience involved Senior and Junior accounting roles at UJA Federation of New York. 

For the past four years Mr. Agabs has been Chief Financial Officer and Chief Technology Officer of Full Circle Partners, LP, an assets-based lending and private equity hedge fund managing $150 million.  He maintains that position today.   

Mr. Agabs holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Planning 

Tim Houchin, COO/Business Development

Tim Houchin has over 20 years of senior level sales and business development experience.  He has a strong background in building early stage and startup technology companies from the business plan stage through execution of the plan.  Nicknamed “rainmaker” he is known for jump-starting and building significant revenues. Mr. Houchin was co-founder of DSL.net, a broadband provider selling to medium and large enterprise accounts throughout the US.  He was instrumental in raising capital and building out a team prior to doing an IPO.  DSL.net went public within eighteen months of start date and grew to 600 employees doing $75 million in annual revenues.  (DSLN) DSL.net was later sold to Megapath. Following DSL.net, Mr Houchin helped raise capital for Reconda Int’l, a software company targeting the middleware space.  The company was later sold within two years.  More recently Mr. Houchin has worked with SaaS companies.  He held the position of Partner / Director of Business Development with Secured Marine Trust (SMT).  SMT provided a software platform to streamline the administrative process for the purchase of boats and yachts.  This process allowed for buyers, sellers, brokers, insurers and lenders etc, to share data thereby creating efficiencies.  Mr. Houchin built the company to over 400 yacht brokerages using the application. 

For the past three years, Mr. Houchin has been working with a publicly traded networking company targeting many vertical markets including large enterprise accounts.  Mr. Houchin maintains that position today

Mr. Houchin holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Communications.

Buying a vehicle is not a pleasurable process for most people.  The pride in and love of new car ownership can be overshadowed by the terrifying and high-pressure experience of haggling over a price with a salesman at a dealership.  Currently, consumers have two options for researching vehicles:  either driving around to different dealer lots or perusing the Internet.  Both options are incredibly time-consuming and, in the end, may not yield the desired outcome.  People who are in the market for a new vehicle often have a make and model in mind, and certainly have some idea of an ideal color and specific features they’d like to see.  If only there was a way for dealers to face one another in an online auction environment to give customers the best deal possible on their dream vehicle… 

Enter Vehiko.com.

Vehiko.com simplifies the car-buying experience for consumers, and provides a streamlined reverse auction atmosphere to connect buyers with the dealers who carry the make and model of vehicle that the consumer wants to purchase.  Consumers pay a nominal fee to use the site, and dealers access the site and browse for bidding opportunities free of charge.  Dealers “bid” on the cars being requested by the site’s users in real time.  An example might be a 2012 Toyota 4Runner SR5 in Salsa Red with a moon roof, in-dash navigation, and 4-wheel drive.  Dealers near (within the buyer’s zip code) and far bid over/at/under Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) for the vehicle, and must ensure that the bid is valid for seven (7) days after the close of the consumer’s auction.  Consumers remain anonymous throughout the process until a bid is accepted, and the onus falls on the dealer to carry out their end of the deal – not the consumer.  In fact, the consumer is not at all obligated to move forward with any bid.  This removes the stress from the buying experience for the consumer while placing dealers in a healthy competition that results in better deals for the customer and a more engaging and rewarding process for dealers than simply following up on a typical lukewarm Internet lead.  Ultimately, Vehiko.com offers a win-win solution for every party involved.  No commission is exchanged between the dealers and Vehiko.com, with revenues occurring from the user fees alone, however, as the Company continues to grow, it will pursue the possibility of charging a monthly recurring fee to participating dealers. 

The Company will experience competition from other lead aggregators and sites that connect dealers with buyers, most of which lack the specific consumer data and the reverse auction elements that Vehiko.com can provide.  The Company will capitalize on its competitors’ weaknesses by building on several strengths:

• Easy to use website
• Reverse auction technology
• Guaranteed leads for dealers
• Consumer data
• Provides a more efficient system that allows consumers to remain their anonymity and bargaining power while gaining price information
• Reduces the inefficiency and cost associated with the current lead system for dealers
• Customers, not dealers, pay for the bidding process

Ability to expand to incorporate additional services