RALEIGH — Joydrive OEM LLC, an online car retailer, has raised $500,000, according to a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Joydrive

Joydrive raised the money from one investor in the form of equity, according to the filing.

Founded in 2016, the Raleigh-based company advertises a new or pre-owned automobile purchasing process that can be done entirely online and is designed to make the shopping experience more efficient and enjoyable.

“No dealership visit…really?

“Yes,” the company says at its website.

“Joydrive lets you complete your entire new or pre-owned purchase online, all from your home.

“This includes home delivery, 5-day return period, and even your trade-in and financing. The entire transaction, all online.”

Joydrive has partnered with several dealerships – most of which are located in the Pacific Northwest – to allow customers to purchase a vehicle online from the company’s online marketplace and have the vehicle delivered to their home.

A customer pays a $500 refundable deposit to reserve a vehicle, receive financing if needed and trade in their current vehicle if they choose to do so.

Every vehicle listed on Joydrive is guaranteed to have an in-depth background check. Vehicles purchased through Joydrive are sold for the listed price and cannot be haggled.

Purchased vehicles are delivered to the customer’s home, where the customer has a five-day window or an allotted 250 miles to return the vehicle if they are not satisfied. Trade-in vehicles are picked up from the customer’s home at the time of delivery.

The company does not offer trade-in services to customers outside the Pacific Northwest at this time, but hopes to expand to other states in the near future.

Hunter Gorham, founder and CEO, has led the company since its inception in 2016. Prior to Joydrive, Gorham spent 14 years working at Ally Financial, the largest automotive finance company in the country.

Gorham received his bachelor’s degree in finance and technology from Emory University and his MBA from Rice University.

Companies relying on a Reg D exemption do not have to register their offering of securities with the SEC, but they must file what’s known as a Form D electronically with the SEC after they first sell their securities.

This story is from the North Carolina Business News Wire, a service of the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Media and Journalism