Automotive commerce platform Centeca appoints Jesper With-Fogstrup as Group CEO
12.10.26
Centeca, the UK-based automotive commerce platform, has appointed Jesper With-Fogstrup as Group CEO, bringing experience in AI, digital transformation and scaling regulated businesses to a group that has spent more than 20 years advancing technology across automotive finance.
Centeca, the UK-based automotive commerce platform, has appointed Jesper With-Fogstrup as Group CEO, bringing experience in AI, digital transformation and scaling regulated businesses to a group that has spent more than 20 years advancing technology across automotive finance.
Lee Streets, a co-founder who has led the business through its growth from motor finance brokerage to automotive commerce platform, will move from Group CEO to Group Chair. He will remain closely involved, supporting With-Fogstrup and the leadership team on the group’s long-term direction. Both appointments are subject to FCA approval.
Previously Evolution Funding Group, Centeca combines automotive finance, digital retail, and compliance technology. It supports more than 5,500 transacting retailers and facilitates over £6.5bn in annual platform loan advances. Its brands include Evolution Funding, Click Dealer, Motion Finance, Creditas Financial Solutions and Automotive Compliance.
Centeca’s technology pedigree is rooted in Evolution Funding, which works with many of the UK’s largest lenders, OEMs and dealer groups and has fundamentally transformed how automotive finance is delivered.
Evolution’s innovations include the industry’s first finance pre-eligibility technology and end-to-end automated digital finance journey. Its technology powers Cinch’s digital offering and white-labelled solutions for two major vehicle manufacturers, enabling customers to complete the entire financing process online in a single browser session – a core capability previously unavailable in the sector.
The business has also pioneered the development of digital regulatory compliance, codifying complex regulatory rules into automated compliant outcomes. Its proprietary Credit Score Based Pricing and digital check out journey for consumers sets the standard for compliance and transparency in UK automotive finance.
The group’s growth and M&A activity across the last six years has been supported by two rounds of investment, from LDC and subsequently Carlyle’s Europe Technology Partners V fund. Centeca is now further developing its proprietary full-stack automotive commerce platform, using developments in AI to further improve and unify finance, retail, compliance and data into better optimised consumer experience for its dealers, OEM partners and lenders.
With-Fogstrup joins with a track record spanning global banking, fintech, property technology and AI-enabled services. Most recently, he was Group CEO of Moneypenny, which supports more than 16,000 businesses across the UK and US. During his tenure, it introduced AI Voice Agents and Receptionists alongside its people-led services.
As CEO of property technology business Smoove, he led its development into a digital platform, delivered 37% revenue growth and significantly improved margins before its successful sale to PEXA.
His earlier roles include Managing Director and Global Head of Digital as a Channel at HSBC, responsible for digital services reaching 38 million customers across 16 markets. At Compare the Market, as Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director, he helped grow the regulated fintech business and was part of the team that secured investment from CPPIB in 2018.
Lee Streets said:
“For more than 20 years, we have challenged how automotive finance works, developing technology that has moved the industry forward. In that time, we have grown from a single business into a group of specialist brands to create a unique automotive commerce proposition. I am incredibly proud of the people who have built this business and the foundations we have laid together.
“Jesper’s appointment is part of that continuing journey. His extensive leadership experience and deep understanding of technology-led growth will help us build on our achievements and deliver our vision faster. As Group Chair, I look forward to working alongside him and remaining closely involved in a business that means so much to me.”
Jesper With-Fogstrup said:
“Customer expectations are shaped by the digital services they use every day, whether that’s booking an Uber in a few taps or using ChatGPT to research a purchase. They bring those expectations of convenience and simplicity to buying a car, too. That is a significant opportunity for Centeca.
“Lee and the team have built a business with the capability to turn that ambition into reality. I’m excited about how much further we can go together: making the journey from finding a vehicle to arranging finance simpler, with technology that makes the whole process work better for everyone involved.”
Centeca continues to deliver industry firsts, including Dealer in a Box, their all-in-one digital commerce, automotive finance and compliance proposition, and Click Dealer’s ChatGPT car-search app, the first to direct buyers to dealers’ own websites rather than a marketplace. These developments build on the group’s track record of bringing new technology into mainstream automotive commerce.
