InspectWise Ltd
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
InspectWise was a Finnish startup founded in 2022 that built a sharing-economy platform for pre-purchase car inspections, pitching itself as the Airbnb of inspection services. Through its iOS and Android app, freelance inspectors visited sellers' locations and produced comprehensive multilingual inspection reports aimed at making used-car deals safe; Finland's largest insurer OP-Pohjola backed the concept by insuring client purchases against fraud up to €200,000. The company reported nearly 24,000 inspection applications processed and 350 freelance inspectors at its peak, and also offered a free SaaS inspection app for car dealers. It ceased operations in 2024.
02 / InspectWise Ltd FAILURE REASONS
Failure factors
Founder Tomi Rantanen's LinkedIn post states InspectWise Ltd entered bankruptcy after Finnish tax authorities classified the firm as a car dealer (VAT on Germany-taxed cars), investors backed out amid the Ukraine war, the private car-import market collapsed, flexible pricing confused customers, and founder/team burnout hindered continuation.
Finnish tax officials classified InspectWise as a car dealer rather than buying agent and demanded Finnish VAT on cars already taxed in Germany.
War in Ukraine led investors to back out; private car-import demand (core customers) took a massive hit.
Flexible pricing model confused customers; founder says should have used fixed pricing.
Burnout, including the founder's, reduced ability to keep pushing forward.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Bankruptcy
status 'Yritys on asetettu konkurssiin' (company placed into bankruptcy). Founder LinkedIn post corroborates bankruptcy after tax/VAT, funding, and market shocks.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
The company raised about $632,000 in total funding, including a seed round on December 1, 2022, from its founder.
- 02
At its peak it reported €300,000 in annual revenue from nearly 24,000 inspection applications processed by 350 freelance inspectors.
- 03
InspectWise is listed as deceased as of September 30, 2024, following its 2024 bankruptcy; no asset-sale or creditor-settlement terms were publicly disclosed.