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Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast

Three exits and a failure: Motorway's Tom Leathes on how to disrupt big industries

Mar 27, 2025
46:55

On this episode of Startup Europe — The Sifted Podcast, Amy sits down with Tom Leathes, CEO and cofounder of used car marketplace Motorway. The company, founded in 2017, has helped more than half a million people sell their cars, and has raised $273m from investors like Index, Iconiq, LocalGlobe and BMW i Ventures.

Tom and his two cofounders have launched four startups before Motorway, with three resulting in successful exits, and one having to shut its doors. Tom and Amy discuss what he's learnt from that one failure, and what's now going right at Motorway, as the company takes on the formidable challenge of disrupting a huge and slow-changing automotive industry.

This podcast is brought to you by Vanta. 

Vanta is the fast, frictionless way for growing companies to get compliant, stay secure, and earn and maintain the trust of vendors and customers.  Head to Vanta.com/sifted to learn more. 

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