The Brothers Behind Brego

Since launching in February 2019, Brego is proving to be one of the most accurate and technologically advanced car valuation companies in the UK. Through artificial intelligence (AI) and automated machine learning, Brego’s platform is poised to transform the car valuations industry, offering an unprecedented level of accuracy in predicting car depreciation and residual values.

Brego Co-Founders are Philip and Simon Hunt. The two tech savvy brothers from Surrey have combined their extensive experience in computer science, data modelling and futures investment trading technology to innovate the car valuation space. Both share an aspiration to propel the business of car valuations “to advance it into the future”, while delivering customers the ultimate high-tech (yet user-friendly experience) to support the ever-evolving automotive industry. 

“Brego is the culmination of our experience and commitment to innovation in technology, and our passion and enthusiasm for cars,” says Simon, formerly a Lead Developer for Goldman Sachs, having been a student of Computer Science at the University of Sussex where he gained an understanding of front-end development and data science after working at a start-up during second and third year. He had enough experience to go contracting after graduating and always dreamed about owning an aspirational sports car.

His older brother Philip has a similar background in technology having studied Computer Science at the University of Reading with previous occupational experience that includes NewsUK, WhatCar and Axel Springer SE. He worked extensively with Artificial Intelligence models, using a very similar technology that powers Brego today. Philip specialises in Big Data, backend technologies and data science. With the combined skills of the two brothers, there was enough experience and knowledge between them to develop the most accurate car valuations company in the UK.

Simon adds: “I had been deeply involved with future markets technology at Goldman Sachs which uses sophisticated AI to predict future share performance, and I knew this held huge potential for other industries. The idea for Brego emerged from this concept. This idea was accelerated further by my own personal experience. I had a dream of buying an Aston Martin Vantage, but that was beyond my reach at the time so I ‘compromised’ with a Jaguar XKR thinking it would hold its value. I purchased that in 2016, and when I came to sell it, was shocked by its depreciation. In just 2 and a half years, it had over £10,000 wiped off its retail value, and to be honest, I hadn’t really considered this when I bought it. If Brego had been in existence then, it would have saved a lot of heartache!”

That scenario really got Philip and Simon seriously thinking about how the technology used for data modelling and forecasting in investment banking could benefit automotive valuations, especially when predicting depreciation and residual values. 

Simon continues: “Depreciation should be accurately conveyed and understood from day one. The moment you take a car out of a showroom it becomes a depreciating asset which has the potential to ruin the car ownership experience. Some cars will depreciate faster than others, which it why there are better times to buy certain marques and models to reap the best return on investment.”

Philip and Simon started to realise their dreams for Brego with the objective of developing a platform that used AI models (derived from those used in financial services to predict investments) enabling customers to be ‘smarter’ in the buying process.

“Rather than basing our tools and APIs on existing automotive software, we worked from the ground up, rethinking what valuation tools are and how they work with a product that is tailored to the automotive industry. We wanted to be imaginative and innovative.”

Philip and Simon first created a minimal-viable-product (MVP) to show that the idea would work and gain traction. It took 3 months to develop an initial prototype and around 2 years to develop the sophisticated artificial intelligence system that is used by Brego’s customers today.

Brego won the Innovate UK grant in order to hire some of the most talented engineers in artificial intelligence and create the initial deep learning model. Later, Brego was noticed by Pario Ventures, a UK-based VC.

One of the biggest challenges was to create a model that can value anything, from the everyday Ford, to the extremely rare LaFerrari - the team strived to be the most accurate valuations provider in all sectors.

Brego was subsequently founded in February 2019. Today it is at the cutting-edge of artificial intelligence; the most tech-focused data-driven car valuation platform available in the UK, while also being one of the most affordable and straightforward solutions. 

Philip says: “We are constantly achieving an average accuracy of over 85% which is increasing every day through our automated machine learning process. We know we achieve this through multiple backtracking methods, and we continue to improve on this all the time. Brego uses over 800 million data points and over 50 tech specs, and gives an entirely mechanical, and significantly, impartial result based on data, rather than involving any human emotion.” 

Brego provides a car valuation solution that provides a reliable, highly accurate unparalleled solution to vehicle finance companies, including lenders and brokers, as well as providing valuation services to auto manufacturers, car dealerships, and the greater automotive industry.  

“We work with, and are talking to a number of high-profile lenders. They are very impressed with what we can do for them, and the potential Brego has for optimising their businesses. We do this through accurate predictions for residual values for balloon payments as well as valuations required for values books,” says Simon. “We can get up to 60 months’ worth of depreciation data, as well as current valuations, with incredibly high accuracy.”

The AI system can predict on new and used vehicles, including luxury cars, mass-market cars and even concept cars.  This ability to value cars that don’t even exist can be hugely beneficial to automotive manufacturers, helping them create vehicles with the maximum residual values. 

Brego’s dataset spans one of the largest collections of car models in the world, making it exceptionally comprehensive and a source of useful insights into the current and future value of all types of vehicles. 

“Brego provides current and future valuations for an extensive spectrum of vehicles, from collectors’ rare cars, supercars, hyper cars and luxury marques to electric cars and mass market models so we offer a solution with substantial scope for any type of vehicle.”

This is not only good news for automotive manufacturers. Car dealerships can also benefit from Brego with an appraisal tool giving correct valuations for part-exchange and trade purchases.

Brego’s ability to “predict the future where valuations are concerned” is exciting for the notoriously volatile automotive industry, so heavily influenced by fluctuating global market conditions.  It is a solution that is, of course, competing against the established traditional names in the car valuations business, but Philip and Simon are unfazed and very confident in their product.

“We want to innovate the market, and yes, we are very confident in the accuracy and scope of the platform we have developed. We set out to be disruptors in the world of car valuations and we believe we are achieving that mantle. We say that not to be arrogant, but more importantly, to advance technology for the future of the automotive industry. We are always on a mission to make the ‘undoable’, doable,” says Simon. 

While the key focus of the technology is accuracy, Brego places great emphasis on simplicity and ease of use for the best, and most convenient customer experiences, with both brothers stressing that their “pricing is simple” and that their “service is high”.

“We may be a tech-company, but people are very important to us; our clients and of course our own people who make up our Brego team, who consist of data scientists and AI specialists. One of our core values is ‘people over process’”, says Philip. “We choose the best, most knowledgeable people and give them the freedom to think out of the box, while being accountable for their actions. It inspires imagination, and fresh approaches to age-old challenges.”

Simon concludes: “Our customers have given us great feedback on our data and say that it is the most accurate and intelligent they have used. We have developed a system that is truly different within the industry, easy to use and effortless to learn, and we are extremely proud of what we have achieved. And, we’d love nothing more than to be labelled as ‘disruptors’ to both the automotive and tech industries. This is just the start of our journey, and we are excited for the future.”