Linkbycar's advantages over named rivals hold on two fronts: it both reads and commands vehicle data across more than 30 brands in 2026, a pairing the aftermarket-box specialists Carfit and Caruma Technologies do not offer, and on compatible models it adds no hardware to the vehicle. That breadth is defensible because it rests on manufacturer APIs rather than on a device fitted to each car.
Its second edge is regulatory timing: the EU Data Act has applied since September 2025, obliging manufacturers to open vehicle data on fair terms, and the European Commission's 2026 vehicle-data guidance frames that access as a route to aftermarket competition. The company has also built distribution through accelerators, joining Moove Lab and Techstars in 2022, Plug and Play InsurTech in 2024 and the HEC Paris incubator in 2025.
Source: linkbycar.com
Named alternatives beat Linkbycar decisively on capital: its October 2024 seed of EUR 1.4 million is the smallest disclosed round among the connected-vehicle peers, trailing Smartcar's USD 36 million, Zendrive's USD 57 million, Vinli's USD 20 million and Carfit's USD 4.75 million. The gap caps how fast it can widen brand coverage and sales reach against those rivals.
Its no-hardware model holds only where a manufacturer exposes a given model, so for the rest it fits its own device, adding a hardware cost and a fitting step that API-only rivals avoid and taking those vehicles off the road for installation. Coverage also depends on manufacturers continuing to open their data, the obligation the September 2025 EU Data Act is designed to enforce.
Linkbycar occupies a hybrid position among connected-vehicle data providers: it reads embedded telematics from manufacturer APIs on more than 30 brands in 2026 with nothing to install, and fits its own box only where no maker opens a model, whereas direct rivals such as Smartcar, Zendrive and Vinli lead on API access or driving-data analytics rather than both.
Its decisive trade-off against those rivals is scope bought with a two-source supply chain, one data format and a single API across brands, at the cost of carrying both software and hardware, while the adjacent substitutes it displaces are single-brand manufacturer portals needing one login per marque and aftermarket telematics boxes fitted to every vehicle that lacks open data.
Linkbycar's growth trajectory now leans on a regulatory shift and an electrification demand curve more than on its own sales record: the EU Data Act has applied since September 2025, obliging manufacturers to open vehicle data on fair terms, and its November 2025 partnership with Neot Capital targets battery-life and total-cost-of-ownership data for electric and heavy-mobility fleets. Both push demand toward an independent, hardware-free data layer that API rivals such as Smartcar sell mainly to developers rather than to fleet and insurance outcomes.
Source: nordic9.com
Source: linkbycar.com
On the product side, the development most likely to shift growth is the move into command capability, letting fleets both read and act across more than 30 brands in 2026 rather than only retrieve data. Indicators that would confirm the judgment are whether its named data customers, Casawatt, GoMecano and Dadycar, expand their use, whether brand coverage widens, and whether a follow-on round narrows the funding gap to Smartcar and Zendrive.
Source: neotcapital.com
