CARY, N.C. -

The landscape of new (and often digital) entrants to the used-car retail space has reached an interesting point.

Companies that were startups just a few years ago are now publicly traded and making acquisitions to boost their arsenal.

Case in point: Vroom, which has done both the last six months.

The online auto retailer, which launched its initial public offering in June, announced Tuesday it had signed a deal to acquire CarStory, an acquisition Vroom CEO Paul Hennessy could “transform the used auto market” by combining its digital retailing capabilities with CarStory’s market data and analytics capabilities.

“We’ve been working with CarStory for the past two years, leveraging their data to help us buy and sell vehicles with precision,” Hennessy said in an emailed Q&A.

“Working together in that capacity demonstrated how we could impact the market as a single company, empowering both consumers and businesses with the best predictive analytics, data and AI in the auto industry,” he said. “The abilities we have at Vroom as a leading digital retailer of pre-owned vehicles and CarStory's valuable, AI-powered market data give us a unique opportunity to transform the used auto market.”

CarStory provides artificial intelligence-based analytics and digital services to the auto retail industry with the aim of providing the “most complete accurate view of predictive market data,” according to a news release.

Vroom’s deal to acquire CarStory is worth approximately $120 million, subject to adjustment, and is comprised by roughly 60% cash and 40% Vroom common stock.  The exact cash-stock split will be determined when the deal closes, which is expected to happen in January.

Asked how having CarStory's analytics/data in the fold might help Vroom, Hennessy said: “Vroom currently uses CarStory’s data to help us buy, sell and merchandise inventory by utilizing their data as a key input to our data science pricing algorithms.

“We’ll continue to use the data in this way as well as look for additional opportunities to bring greater predictive knowledge to pretty much everything we do in our business,” he said.