Sheryl Sandberg has led a $10 million investment into Self Inspection, a San Diego-based startup that uses AI and smartphone cameras to assess vehicle body damage and generate detailed inspection reports. The funding round was announced in July 2026.
The round was led by Sandberg’s family office, Sandberg Bernthal Venture Partners, with additional investment from tire distributor U.S. AutoForce, automotive lender Westlake Financial, and early-stage funds Costanoa Ventures, Rebellion Ventures, and BrightCap Ventures. DVx Ventures, the firm run by former Tesla president Jon McNeill, also backed the company.
Founded in 2021, Self Inspection sells software to enterprise customers that allows them to send a link to anyone with a smartphone to photograph a vehicle. The software guides users through the process to ensure full coverage, then compares the images against what the company describes as “one of the largest datasets of damaged vehicles” to detect damage and estimate repair costs. The result is a PDF report detailing required labor, parts, and costs — information the company says would typically only come from a body shop. The platform can also pull data from a vehicle’s OBD2 computer for additional detail.
Customers include Stellantis’ financial services arm, which uses the platform for corporate-owned vehicles and lease-end inspections. Self Inspection told TechCrunch it has completed more than 1 million vehicle inspections across rental fleets, automotive finance companies, auctions, and marketplaces. The company says its platform has helped customers reduce costs by over $80 million and save more than 300,000 operational hours.
“Vehicle condition touches billions of dollars in automotive decisions every year, yet the data remains fragmented,” Sandberg said in a statement. “We believe Self Inspection will build the system of record that the automotive industry needs.”
Self Inspection plans to use the new funding to develop additional products, expand its enterprise customer base, and enter the European market.
Source: TechCrunch