Surety — Investor Brief 2026

Surety

The marketplace for certified used tires — inspected by proven industrial technology, listed with a trusted grade, and sold on evidence.

Investor Brief

Series Seed · 2026

Confidential

The Problem

A $9 billion market
nobody can trust.

US Used Tire Market

$9B+

Growing at ~4% annually. Every single tire changes hands with no independent verification of its internal condition.

Tread depth tells you nothing about internal belt separation, UV degradation, or prior impact damage — the failures that actually kill people.

National Certification Standards

0

No CARFAX equivalent exists for used tires. No independent body. No objective grade. The market has operated this way for a century.

Consumers Avoiding Used Tires

35%

More than a third of potential buyers cite safety concerns as their primary reason to avoid the market. That demand exists — it just needs a trust mechanism to unlock it.

Sellers have good inventory they cannot credibly represent. Buyers have demand they cannot safely act on. Surety is the bridge — the objective standard that makes the transaction possible.

The Business Model

We scan. We list.
We earn when they sell.

01

◎

We Arrive

Surety brings the scanning van to partners with existing tire inventory — salvage yards, fleet depots, auction houses, dealer groups. Zero cost to the partner. Zero obligation.

Consignment

→

02

⬡

We Scan

Every tire passes through the inspection pipeline. Laser tread map, ultrasonic belt test, AI visual scan. Each gets an SR-A, SR-B, SR-C grade or a Fail — in under 90 seconds per tire.

Certified

→

03

✦

We List

Certified tires appear on the Surety marketplace with grade, tread depth, size, age, and inspection data. The partner sets their own asking price. We provide comparable sales guidance.

Marketplace

→

04

◈

They Sell

Buyers find certified tires on Surety with full inspection data and a trusted grade. The certification is the trust mechanism that makes an online used tire purchase feel safe.

Transaction

→

05

$

We Earn

Surety takes a fee only when a tire sells. Partner receives the balance. No upfront cost, no subscription, no commitment. We are a revenue generator for our partners — not a cost.

Revenue Share

Surety Take Rate

$7 + 12%

Flat fee + % above $40 sale price

Partner Downside

Zero

Pays nothing until a tire sells

Blended Revenue / Scan

~$8.20

Grade mix, sell-through, 60–80 tires/hr

The Platform Effect

Every scan makes
the next scan more valuable.

1

More partner sites → deeper inventory

Each new salvage yard, fleet operator, or dealer group adds certified listings to the marketplace. Inventory depth is the primary reason buyers return.

2

Deeper inventory → more buyers

Buyers searching for a specific size and grade find what they need on Surety rather than a fragmented collection of salvage yard websites. The platform becomes the destination.

3

More buyers → higher sell-through

Partners see their certified inventory moving faster and at higher prices than their uncertified inventory. This is the proof point that converts hesitant partners into enthusiastic ones.

4

Higher sell-through → more partner sites

Word spreads in the salvage and auction industry. Surety becomes the certification standard that serious operators use. New partners come inbound rather than requiring outbound sales.

Data Compounding

Every transaction teaches Surety what an SR-A tire sells for, by size, region, and season
Pricing guidance becomes more accurate — improving partner satisfaction and sell-through
Claims data from the insurance product builds the actuarial model nobody else can replicate
The database becomes a moat that deepens with every scan, independent of the van network

Technology

Proven industrial components.
No novel physics required.

The Indexed Conveyor

Stop-and-measure · 32 second cycle

Five Stations. One Tire at a Time.

Station 1 — DOT Capture. Industrial camera + ring LED + Anyline OCR SDK. Reads DOT serial and manufacture date automatically in 3 seconds. Already deployed by fleet operators globally.
Station 2 — Laser Tread. Two Keyence laser line profilers map the full contact patch at ±0.1mm accuracy in 5 seconds. Better than any manual depth gauge.
Station 3 — AI Visual. Four industrial cameras with diffuse LED capture sidewalls, bead, and tread simultaneously. NVIDIA Jetson inference flags cracking, bulges, cord exposure, and wear anomalies in 8 seconds.
Station 4 — Grade + Print. Cloud algorithm issues SR-A / SR-B / SR-C / Fail. Void-film label printed and ready in 5 seconds.

What the SR Grade Covers

Honest scope — documented exclusions

Specific, Defensible, Better Than Anything Else

Tread depth at four points — laser-measured, spatially mapped
Tire age from DOT manufacture date — calculated automatically
Visible sidewall condition — cracking, bulge, cord exposure, bead damage
Tread condition — uneven wear, cupping, feathering, puncture sites
Prior visible repairs — AI-flagged, operator-confirmed

Phase 2 Upgrade Path

Year 2–3 · When cash funds it

SR-A+ with Ultrasonic Belt Check

Static-contact roller probe bolted onto existing conveyor as Station 3b
3–4 second dwell per zone — proven NDT technique, no novel physics
SR-A+ becomes the premium grade tier at a higher price point

All-Proven Component Stack

Anyline DOT OCR SDK

Keyence laser profiler

Basler industrial cameras

NVIDIA Jetson inference

CCS diffuse LED lighting

Zebra label printer

Allen-Bradley PLC

Indexed conveyor (std fab)

Machine Economics

Item	Cost
Inspection machine	$37–55k
Van (used Sprinter/Transit)	$35–45k
Van fit-out	$8–12k
Total per van	~$100k
Tires/hour (steady state)	60–80
Tires/day (6hr operating)	360–480
Payback period	4–5 months

Every component in the Surety machine is deployed commercially today — in automotive service, food production, semiconductor, and logistics inspection. The innovation is the integration and the certification standard built around it. Not the physics.

Market Opportunity

First to define
means first to own.

Total Addressable MarketGlobal used tire market · ~4% CAGR

$42B

Serviceable MarketUS used tire market — primary geography

$9B+

Initial BeachheadAuction & salvage channel, top 20 US metros

$820M

Year 1 Target2–3 metro areas, 8–12 partner sites

$12M

Why The Consignment Model Wins Partners

Zero upfront cost. Partners pay nothing until a tire sells. The sales conversation is entirely about upside.
Dormant inventory monetised. Most salvage yards have 400–800 tires sitting unsold. Surety converts waste into revenue.
Higher sale prices. SR-certified tires command a 35–60% premium over uncertified equivalents. Partners keep most of that gain.
No operational disruption. Surety arrives, scans, leaves. The partner's operation continues unchanged.

Competitive Moat

No national competitor exists — we define the category before anyone else can
The certification database is a compounding asset nobody can replicate retroactively
SAE standard authorship makes our grading criteria the industry benchmark permanently
Insurer partnerships require claims history — a high barrier no late entrant can shortcut

No direct national competitor exists. The company that writes the standard owns the category. Competitors must meet our specification.

Revenue Model

Marketplace take rate.
Compounding with every scan.

Marketplace Take

$7–19

per tire sold · hybrid flat + percentage model

$7 flat fee + 12% of sale price above $40. Protects Surety on budget tires while capturing upside on premium SR-A inventory.

Blended / Scan

~$8.20

blended · grade mix and sell-through · 60–80 tires/hr

SR-A: 85% sell-through · SR-B: 70% · SR-C: 45% · Grade mix: 35% / 40% / 15% / 10% fail.

Insurance Net Retained

$3

per insured tire per year · underwriter partnership

30% attach rate Year 1 growing to 50% by Year 3. Cumulative insured pool builds a recurring annuity independent of new scan volume.

Take Rate by Sale Price

Sale Price	Surety Take	Partner Receives	Effective Rate
$25 (SR-C)	$7.00	$18.00	28%
$55 (SR-B)	$8.80	$46.20	16%
$90 (SR-A)	$13.00	$77.00	14%
$140 (SR-A premium)	$19.00	$121.00	14%

5-Year Revenue Summary

Stream	Y2	Y3	Y5
Marketplace (co. vans)	$1.04M	$3.45M	$8.63M
Franchise royalties	—	$900k	$7.20M
Insurance (net)	$90k	$420k	$5.10M
Total Revenue	$1.13M	$4.77M	$20.93M
EBITDA Margin	55%	66%	82%

Roadmap & Capital

Prove. Then scale.
Raise on data, not hope.

Phase 1

Months 1–8 · Bootstrap

$80–100k

Minimal capital to prove the core thesis

Prove the Technology

→

Bench prototype — gantry, sensors, grading algorithm

→

300+ tires validated against expert human inspection

→

Single partner pilot — live listings, real transactions

→

Sell-through data, grade distribution, pricing validation

→

Second pilot — different partner type, prove generalisation

→

Submit SAE petition at Month 8 — pilot data makes it credible

Phase 2

Month 9–24 · Seed Round

$300–400k

Raised on data, not a deck

Build the Marketplace

→

Van 1 deployed — pipeline tunnel, 2 operators

→

5–8 active partner sites, 360–480 scans/day

→

Marketplace v2 — full platform, buyer accounts, search

→

Insurance product launched with underwriter partner

→

SAE committee formed — Surety leads technical draft

→

Vans 2–3 funded from operating cash flow

Phase 3

Year 3+ · Series A

$3–5M

Franchise acceleration

Scale the Network

→

Franchise Disclosure Document filed

→

First franchisees — from Phase 2 operators

→

SAE J-XXXX draft complete — final ballot Year 4

→

Fleet operators mandate SAE J-XXXX in procurement

→

NHTSA discussions — regulatory adoption by reference

→

Twin-tunnel trailer for high-volume events

$8.20

Blended rev / scan

4–5mo

Van payback period

82%

Year 5 EBITDA margin

The seed round is raised with 8 months of real transaction data, a proven grade algorithm, and a $100k machine that pays back in 4–5 months. Every number is market-validated, not projected.

Defensibility

Every layer reinforces
the one above it.

⚖

Condition Cert, Not Performance Guarantee

We certify tire state at time of inspection — the same legal model as vehicle state inspections and home inspectors. Liability is narrow, specific, and defensible with machine-generated evidence.

◈

SAE Grading Standard

SR-A / SR-B / SR-C criteria submitted to SAE International. When published, competitors must meet our specification. The standard moat is permanent — no acquirer can recreate authorship.

⬡

Cryptographic DOT Anchor

Every cert is tied to a unique DOT serial via cryptographic hash. Void-on-removal sticker. Forgery requires an impossible DOT match — instantly detectable against the live database.

◎

Immutable Sensor Audit Trail

Machine ID, operator ID, and timestamped sensor readings logged for every cert. Objective evidence in any dispute. Zero human override at the grading layer — the algorithm cannot be argued with.

✦

Marketplace Data Compounding

Every transaction builds a pricing dataset nobody else has. What does an SR-A 225/45R17 sell for in Q1 in the Midwest? Surety knows. That data improves sell-through for partners — reinforcing the flywheel.

◰

Insurance Claims History

The actuarial dataset from real claims is the single highest barrier to replication. An insurer won't partner with a late entrant who has no claims history. Surety's book is built from Day 1 of commercial operation.

The Ask

Back the proof.
Own the standard.

$95k

Bootstrap · Proof Phase · Month 0–8

Bench prototype — indexed conveyor, all sensors~$48k

Software MVP — database, QR system, listing page~$28k

AI model training — 400 tires, technician labels~$15k

Legal — liability framework, cert disclaimer~$20k

Seed Round · Month 8–18 · $300–400k

Van 1 — indexed conveyor, fitted Sprinter~$100k

Marketplace platform — full build from MVP~$120k

Vans 2–3 funded from cash (4–5mo payback)—

Insurance broker, actuary, FDD (Year 2)~$100k

Team and working capital — 12 months~$130k

"We raise $95k to prove the machine on 400+ real tires. Eight months later we raise $300–400k with validated grades, real sell-through data, and a $100k van that pays back in four months. Every number an investor sees has already happened."

What the Bootstrap Unlocks

A grade algorithm validated against 400+ real tires across 5+ size variants
Real sell-through data from two live partner pilots
A pricing model grounded in actual transactions, not assumptions
A seed conversation where every key technical and commercial risk has been answered with data

Ownership Advantage

Bootstrap at near-zero dilution — friendly capital at concept stage
Seed raised on proof — higher valuation, less equity given up
Total external capital to self-funding: ~$395–495k vs $2.5M original ask
Founders retain significantly more ownership at every subsequent round