Partly raises £40m for automotive supply chain AI

Partly, the developer of an AI foundation model for the automotive repair supply chain, has raised £40 million in a Series B funding round led by DST Global Partners.

The funding coincides with the company’s expansion into the United States, where it aims to establish itself as a provider of AI infrastructure for the automotive repair industry.

At the centre of Partly’s offering is Interpreter, a foundation model designed specifically for automotive parts identification and sourcing. Developed over five years, the model has been trained using human feedback, synthetic data, and live operational data, supported by more than 50 manufacturer agreements.

The company argues that general-purpose AI models have struggled to address the complexity of automotive parts systems, logistics networks, and repair workflows, creating an opportunity for specialised infrastructure.

Partly has established its US headquarters in Austin, Texas, targeting the country’s collision repair market, which exceeds $100 billion in annual value. The sector includes approximately 250,000 repair businesses and continues to rely heavily on manual processes for parts sourcing and procurement.

To support its expansion, Partly has relocated its executive leadership team to Austin, including co-founder and chief executive Levi Fawcett, and is hiring across engineering, product, and business development functions.

“Not since the creation of the assembly line or EVs has the auto industry experienced significant innovation that simultaneously improves operational efficiency, industry profitability, and consumer value,” said Fawcett. “We have spent five years building the AI infrastructure layer that the industry has been missing.”