Recomotor
Digitizes and automates distribution of recovered secondhand car parts from scrapyards to workshops.
Website: https://recomotor.com
Cover Block
PUBLIC
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Recomotor |
| Tagline | Digitizes and automates distribution of recovered secondhand car parts from scrapyards to workshops |
| Headquarters | Barcelona, Spain |
| Founded | 2021 |
| Stage | Seed |
| Business Model | Marketplace |
| Industry | Logistics / Supply Chain (auto recycling) |
| Technology Type | Software (Non-AI) |
| Geography | Western Europe |
| Growth Profile | Venture Scale |
| Founding Team | Co-Founders (2): Jan Amat, Gerard Palau |
| Funding Label | Seed |
| Total Disclosed | ~$2.03M [CB Insights] |
Links
PUBLIC
- Website: https://recomotor.com
- LinkedIn: https://es.linkedin.com/company/recomotor
- Crunchbase: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/recomotor
- PitchBook: https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/489413-53
- Dealroom: https://app.dealroom.co/companies/recomotor
Executive Summary
PUBLIC
Recomotor is a Barcelona-based software and logistics company that connects European scrapyards with workshops and dealers, turning a fragmented offline trade in recovered car parts into a digitized, warrantied distribution channel [catalonia.com] [EU-Startups]. Founded in 2021 by Jan Amat and Gerard Palau, the company began as a small B2C marketplace for used parts and has since shifted toward a vertically integrated vehicle processing model, a pivot detailed by CEO Jan Amat in an interview with Auto Recycling World [Auto Recycling World]. The differentiation rests less on the consumer storefront and more on proprietary software that automates the connection between yards and buyers, a function the founders describe as exclusive to their platform [Intelectium]. Recomotor has raised approximately $2.03M in seed funding led by Barlon Capital, with participation from Othman Ktiri, Enrique Seligrat, Rene de Jong and Hugo Arevalo, a syndicate weighted toward Iberian operators rather than institutional venture funds [CB Insights] [Nordic 9]. The business model sits at the intersection of circular-economy regulation in the European Union and the long-running cost pressure inside independent auto repair, a combination that gives the company structural tailwinds even before considering software margins. Over the next 12 to 18 months, the questions worth tracking are whether the logistics pivot translates into recurring volume from a defined cohort of scrapyards, whether the company can defend its software intermediary role against larger pan-European platforms such as Ovoko, and whether the existing seed capital is sufficient to reach a clearly priced Series A. The publication views Recomotor as an early-stage, evidence-light but thesis-rich bet on the digitization of an unloved corner of the automotive supply chain.
Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by Crunchbase, CB Insights, Nordic 9, EU-Startups and the company's own LinkedIn and website.
Taxonomy Snapshot
| Axis | Value |
|---|---|
| Stage | Seed |
| Business Model | Marketplace shifting toward vertically integrated logistics |
| Industry / Vertical | Auto recycling, aftermarket parts, logistics |
| Technology Type | Software (Non-AI) |
| Geography | Spain, with European scrapyard sourcing |
| Growth Profile | Venture Scale |
| Founding Team | Co-Founders (2) |
| Funding | Seed, ~$2.03M disclosed |
Company Overview
PUBLIC
Recomotor was founded in Spain in 2021 by Jan Amat and Gerard Palau to digitize the trade in recovered car parts, a market that in southern Europe still runs largely on phone calls, WhatsApp messages and informal scrapyard relationships [PitchBook] [LinkedIn]. The legal entity associated with the company in public registries is JG Recomotor, S.L., listed at the Barcelona and Catalonia Startup Hub and in the Spanish company directory infoempresa.com [catalonia.com] [infoempresa.com]. The Catalonia Startup Hub describes Recomotor as "a fast-growing company dedicated to the digitisation and automation of automotive parts distribution" that "sustainably and economically recovers car parts from workshops and automotive professionals and distributes them" [catalonia.com].
The most consequential milestone after incorporation was the seed round of approximately €2 million (about $2.03M) led by Barlon Capital, reported by Nordic 9 and corroborated by CB Insights with a date of 9 September 2022 [Nordic 9] [CB Insights]. Around the same period, the company appeared in Intelectium's startup portfolio, where it is described as "an intermediary between scrapyards and workshops and dealers, offering the market exclusive software that allows the process of connecting these actors to be automated and digitized" [Intelectium]. CEO Jan Amat has since presented the company at Startup Grind Mataró, framing Recomotor's evolution in terms of the circular economy [Startup Grind].
The most recent public milestone is a strategic shift documented by Auto Recycling World, which characterizes Recomotor as having moved "from a small B2C marketplace to a vertically integrated vehicle processing operation", a transition Amat attributes to specific industry pain points in the reverse supply chain [Auto Recycling World]. That repositioning, from listings to logistics, is the lens through which subsequent product, market and competitive analysis in this report should be read.
Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by catalonia.com, Crunchbase, CB Insights, Nordic 9, PitchBook, Intelectium and Auto Recycling World.
Product and Technology
MIXED
Recomotor's public product surface has two layers: a consumer-facing online store for secondhand car parts, and a software intermediary that sits between scrapyards and professional buyers. EU-Startups describes the storefront as an "online secondhand car parts dealer for all brands and categories" that works with "the safest scraping yards in Europe" and offers a six-month warranty on recovered parts [EU-Startups] [PUBLIC]. The Spanish-language product page on the company's own site frames the proposition around price and warranty rather than novelty of selection [Recomotor] [PUBLIC]. Crunchbase summarises the model as sourcing "second hand trusted autoparts in good condition through a network of scrap yards" while "promoting the circular economy" [Crunchbase] [PUBLIC].
The more interesting layer, and the one that distinguishes Recomotor from a generic parts retailer, is the software the company licenses or operates between yards and buyers. Intelectium states that Recomotor "acts as an intermediary between scrapyards and workshops and dealers, offering the market exclusive software that allows the process of connecting these actors to be automated and digitized" [Intelectium] [MIXED]. Auto Recycling World adds that the company has built "a tech-driven auto recycler" with operations covering vehicle processing rather than only listing inventory, indicating the platform now touches dismantling workflow and not just the order book [Auto Recycling World] [MIXED]. The publication notes that the Intelectium and Auto Recycling World descriptions are company-aligned sources, and rates the technical specifics behind these claims (which modules, which integrations, which yards are live on the software) as not yet independently verified.
No public job postings were surfaced from major applicant tracking systems at the time of writing, so the technology stack cannot be inferred from hiring signal in the usual way. The company's LinkedIn presence (1,789 followers as of capture) and Spanish-language marketing collateral are consistent with a lean engineering team focused on internal tooling rather than a developer-platform play [LinkedIn] [MIXED].
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Product claims are corroborated across EU-Startups, Intelectium, Crunchbase and Auto Recycling World, but several rest on company-aligned sources and lack independent verification of the underlying software functionality.
Market Research and Opportunity
PUBLIC
The European market for recovered automotive parts sits at the intersection of three forces that have only recently aligned: a regulatory push to extend vehicle lifecycles, persistent inflation in new OEM parts, and a generational changeover among independent scrapyard operators that is opening the door to digital workflows. Recomotor is positioned squarely in that intersection.
The European Union's End-of-Life Vehicles framework requires high rates of reuse and recovery from scrapped passenger cars, a regulatory backdrop that supports demand for verified recovered parts as a legitimate substitute for new components. Recomotor's own positioning leans into this framing, with the Crunchbase description and the Catalonia Startup Hub both highlighting the circular-economy angle [Crunchbase] [catalonia.com]. Independent workshops, which make up the majority of repair volume in southern European markets, face the opposite pressure on the cost side: rising prices for new OEM parts make warrantied secondhand components increasingly attractive to both garages and the insurance carriers that ultimately pay many repair bills.
No independent third-party TAM figure for the European recovered-parts market was surfaced in the captured research, and the publication declines to manufacture one. What the cited evidence does support is qualitative: Auto Recycling World frames the reverse supply chain as structurally underserved by software and notes the bold pivots Recomotor has made to address "real industry pain points" [Auto Recycling World]. The most adjacent comparable is the broader European used-parts marketplace category in which Lithuania-based Ovoko operates at considerably greater scale, a useful read-across for demand even though Ovoko's own revenue is not in the structured facts here.
| Sizing claim | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Recomotor disclosed seed funding | ~$2.03M | [CB Insights] |
| Recomotor seed lead | Barlon Capital, €2M round | [Nordic 9] |
| LinkedIn followers (proxy for awareness) | 1,789 | [LinkedIn] |
Analyst takeaway: in the absence of a cited TAM figure, the strongest market signal in the file is qualitative regulatory and cost tailwinds combined with the existence of a larger pan-European peer in Ovoko, which suggests demand for the category is real even if Recomotor's specific share of it is not yet disclosed.
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Demand drivers are well documented at a qualitative level across multiple sources, but no named third-party TAM report was captured for the European recovered-parts segment.
Competitive Landscape
MIXED
Recomotor competes in a category where the most visible challenger is Lithuania-based Ovoko, with the rest of the field made up of national classifieds, individual scrapyard websites and the long tail of WhatsApp-driven informal trade.
| Company | Positioning | Stage / Funding | Notable Differentiator | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recomotor | Software intermediary plus warrantied storefront for recovered parts, Iberian focus | Seed, ~$2.03M | Vertically integrated vehicle processing, six-month warranty | [CB Insights] [EU-Startups] [Auto Recycling World] |
| Ovoko | Pan-European marketplace aggregating scrapyard inventory | Later stage, larger scale | Cross-border catalogue depth and logistics network | [PUBLIC competitor list] |
The segment-by-segment map breaks down roughly as follows. At the marketplace layer, Ovoko is the most directly comparable challenger and the one most often named alongside Recomotor in European auto-recycling conversations. At the incumbent layer sit the scrapyards themselves, many of which run their own websites and direct phone-order channels, and which Recomotor needs as suppliers rather than competitors. Adjacent substitutes include OEM parts distribution (more expensive, generally faster), aftermarket new-parts e-commerce, and insurance-driven approved-repairer networks that may steer body shops toward specific parts sources.
Where Recomotor has a defensible edge today is in the depth of its relationship with Iberian scrapyards and in the warranty plus logistics layer it has built on top of recovered inventory. That edge is reinforced by the recent shift toward vertically integrated vehicle processing, which, if real at scale, gives Recomotor control over part quality and grading in a way a pure marketplace cannot replicate [Auto Recycling World]. The edge is perishable in two specific ways: a larger competitor with deeper capital can replicate the warranty product, and the software intermediary role becomes less valuable if scrapyards adopt off-the-shelf inventory tools directly.
Where Recomotor is most exposed is cross-border catalogue breadth, which a pan-European peer can offer to a Madrid workshop just as easily as a Spain-based platform. The most plausible 18-month competitive scenario divides into a winner-if and a loser-if. Winner if Recomotor converts the logistics pivot into measurable, repeat volume from a defined cohort of scrapyards and uses warranty data to underwrite higher-value parts; loser if the seed runway expires before that volume is provable and a larger competitor enters Spain with subsidised pricing.
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Subject-row claims are confirmed across multiple sources; Ovoko's stage and differentiators are described from public reputation rather than a captured filing.
Opportunity
PUBLIC
If Recomotor executes on the logistics pivot already underway, the prize is becoming the default software and fulfilment layer for recovered automotive parts in southern Europe, a position with both marketplace economics and infrastructure-style switching costs.
The headline opportunity. The single largest outcome Recomotor could plausibly become is the operating system for the European reverse automotive supply chain in its Iberian core, expanding outward from there. The cited evidence makes this reachable rather than aspirational for three reasons. First, Auto Recycling World documents that the company has already moved beyond a listings model into vehicle processing, which is the harder, higher-margin layer of the stack [Auto Recycling World]. Second, Intelectium describes the software as exclusive in its automation of yard-to-buyer connections, suggesting at least a temporary product gap in the market [Intelectium]. Third, the syndicate behind the seed round, led by Barlon Capital with participation from Iberian operators including Othman Ktiri (founder of OK Mobility), is precisely the kind of capital base that can open scrapyard and fleet relationships [CB Insights] [Nordic 9]. None of this guarantees the outcome, but it does mean the path is concrete rather than imagined.
Growth scenarios.
| Scenario | What happens | Catalyst | Why it's plausible |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iberian default | Recomotor becomes the standard software and warranty layer for Spanish and Portuguese scrapyards | Signed agreements with a regional scrapyard association or a top-five insurance carrier | Existing Iberian investor network and Catalonia Startup Hub presence [catalonia.com] |
| Vertically integrated processor | The company runs its own vehicle processing centres and sells warrantied parts directly to workshops at scale | Build-out of a second processing site beyond the current operation | Auto Recycling World confirms the pivot is already underway [Auto Recycling World] |
| Insurance-channel partner | Recomotor parts become an approved input for body-shop networks tied to major motor insurers | A pilot with a Spanish or pan-European insurer for non-structural recovered parts | EU end-of-life vehicle policy pressure and cost inflation in new OEM parts [Crunchbase] |
What compounding looks like. The flywheel in this business is data, not network effects in the classic marketplace sense. Every vehicle processed and every part sold under warranty produces a data point on yield, grading and failure rates. Over time, that dataset lets Recomotor price more accurately than competitors, underwrite longer warranties, and offer insurers and fleet operators a level of confidence that a pure listings site cannot. Once a workshop has integrated Recomotor into its ordering and warranty flow, switching to a competing source means re-establishing that confidence from zero. The Auto Recycling World profile suggests this compounding has begun in operations, though no public unit metrics confirm it [Auto Recycling World].
The size of the win. Ovoko, the most directly comparable European challenger, operates at meaningfully greater scale and serves as the natural read-across for what a successful southern-European platform in this category can become. The publication declines to attach a specific multiple in the absence of a cited revenue figure for either company, but notes that strategic acquirers in this space include large auto-aftermarket distributors and insurance-linked repair networks, both of which have historically paid for verified inventory and warranty infrastructure rather than for traffic alone (scenario, not a forecast). The honest summary is that the upside case is a category-defining Iberian platform with credible expansion optionality, supported by regulatory tailwinds, and the seed round announced in 2022 is the capital with which that case must be proven before the next round is priced.
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Scenarios are anchored to cited evidence on the logistics pivot, investor base and category structure, but the absence of disclosed revenue or volume metrics means upside sizing is qualitative.
Sources
PUBLIC
[catalonia.com] JG RECOMOTOR, SL at Barcelona & Catalonia Startup Hub | https://startupshub.catalonia.com/startup/lleida/recomotor/5482
[EU-Startups] Recomotor directory listing | https://www.eu-startups.com/directory/recomotor/
[PitchBook] Recomotor 2025 Company Profile: Valuation, Funding & Investors | https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/489413-53
[Intelectium] Meet our startups: Recomotor | https://www.intelectium.com/en/post/meet-our-startups-recomotor
[Auto Recycling World] Recomotor's Shift From Listings To Logistics: A Tech-Led Auto Recycling Revolution | https://autorecyclingworld.com/recomotors-shift-from-listings-to-logistics-a-tech-led-auto-recycling-revolution/
[Startup Grind] Jan Amat (CEO & Co-Founder @ Recomotor) at Startup Grind Mataró | https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-mataro-presents-jan-amat-ceo-co-founder-recomotor/
[Crunchbase] Recomotor Company Profile & Funding | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/recomotor
[Crunchbase] Recomotor Recent News & Activity | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/recomotor/company_overview/overview_timeline
[LinkedIn] Recomotor company page | https://es.linkedin.com/company/recomotor
[Nordic 9] Recomotor raised €2 million from investors led by Barlon Capital | https://nordic9.com/news/recomotor-raised-2-million-from-investors-led-by-barlon-capital/
[CB Insights] Recomotor: Products, Competitors, Financials, Employees, Headquarters Locations | https://www.cbinsights.com/company/recomotor
[Dealroom.co] Recomotor company information, funding & investors | https://app.dealroom.co/companies/recomotor
[Recomotor] Compra en recomotor, mejor precio y garantía | https://recomotor.com/en/post/compra-en-recomotor-mejor-precio-garantia
[infoempresa.com] JG RECOMOTOR SL: Phone number, VAT number, and Address | https://www.infoempresa.com/en-in/es/company/jg-recomotor-sl
Articles about Recomotor
- Recomotor Wants Every Spanish Scrapyard Wired Into a Workshop's Order Screen — The Barcelona startup raised roughly $2M to turn a fragmented salvage-parts trade into next-day logistics for repair shops.