Major automotive dealer groups fuel growth of speech-enabled tech solution

STELLA Automotive AI, Inc. (“STELLA”), provider of high-end conversational AI technology, today announced that it closed its seed round of financing, securing convertible promissory notes from strategic investors including Maroone USA, the Pohanka Automotive Group, Czubay Family Enterprises and The Presidio Group LLC (“Presidio”).

Presidio served as the exclusive financial advisor to STELLA since its market introduction in 2022. Through its deep relationships within the dealer community, Presidio helped STELLA procure strategic capital and industry advice that will help address challenges faced by dealers.

“We are thrilled to partner with our new investors as we to continue to enhance our product offerings and deliver a world-class customer experience,” said STELLA Founder Josselyn Boudett. “Putting dealers first has been the key to the speed of our growth, and this inaugural investment is an important milestone to help STELLA extend its leadership role in the new market category of Conversational AI.”

The convertible note financing offered an opportunity for early investors to provide capital and industry expertise to support STELLA’s growth. STELLA’s aim is to increase its focus on sales, market share and innovative new products.

“STELLA is bringing cutting-edge technology to the automotive industry throughout North America,” said Presidio Managing Director Keith Style. “STELLA’s initial product replaces a labor-intensive process and enables dealers to redeploy staffing to other customer-facing areas, ultimately improving the customer experience.”

“Great business deals and relationships will always be about people. But technology-enabled solutions like STELLA accelerate those deals and relationships,” said Presidio CEO Brodie Cobb. “The commitment by this new investor group cements what we already know. STELLA makes dealerships more efficient and profitable almost overnight.”

About Presidio

Founded in 1998 with the simple mission to relentlessly put the interests of our clients first, Presidio steadfastly adhered to this philosophy and earned the trust of clients throughout the United States. During their careers, the professionals at Presidio have collectively closed more than 215 transactions for about $15 billion. Presidio has offices in Denver and Atlanta. Presidio Merchant Partners LLC is a subsidiary of The Presidio Group LLC and is a member of FINRA and SIPC. For more information on Presidio, visit www.thepresidiogroup.com.

About STELLA Automotive AI

STELLA helps automotive dealers deliver a complete, intelligent customer experience on telephone, chat, and web. STELLA behaves just like a staff member to complete repetitive tasks such as answering and routing phone calls, booking appointments, and helping with frequently asked questions about vehicles, services, and sales. STELLA sits on top of legacy software infrastructure and reports analytic information about customer behavior to the dealer. Dealer groups are adding STELLA to their stores every week with tens of thousands of customer calls being handled 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Based in Tampa, FL, STELLA is the most award-winning and innovative conversational AI solution in the automotive industry. Learn more about Stella at www.stellaautomotive.com

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