London: Autoquake, the UK's leading online used car retailer, has announced the closure of a 6 million pounds second round of venture capital funding led by Highland Capital Partners in conjunction with existing investor Accel Partners. The financing is in addition to the 3 million pounds invested by Accel Partners in the summer of 2006 and will allow Autoquake to grow its UK operations, service offerings, technology platform and brand. It will also provide Autoquake with capital for its planned international expansion.

Autoquake's proven online retail model sells high quality used cars on behalf of large corporate fleet and leasing companies direct to consumers through its website www.autoquake.com. Cars are displayed in Autoquake's virtual showroom with descriptions including over 50 high quality digital pictures.

All cars go through a 120 point inspection and come with a 100 percent money back guarantee. Car finance, warranty, insurance, part exchange and delivery are supplementary options that buyers can benefit from. Key to the Autoquake concept is an ecommerce platform that allows cars to be processed with factory like efficiency and to be sold in a fraction of the time that cars remain on traditional dealer forecourts.

As part of the financing, Fergal Mullen, General Partner at Highland Capital Partners will join the Autoquake board. Fergal comments: "We believe Autoquake is in a unique position to transform the UK used car market. It is clear that the company is filling a void both in the consumer purchase experience and the remarketing of fleet cars."