ClearCourse buys garage software firm Motasoft to add embedded payments
The vertical software group plans to build payments and sector-specific AI into the system independent garages use to run their workshops, a bet on owning the customer’s record of work
- Motasoft founded: 2007
- Core product: Virtual Garage Manager (VGM), a cloud-based garage management system
- Motasoft leadership: Andrew Burgess, managing director; Andy Meikle, technical director
- ClearCourse established: London, 2018
For founders of small vertical software firms, the deal suggests the value sits where money changes hands: what ClearCourse is buying is the workflow that ends in an invoice and a card payment. The move to copy is to build payments into the product before a sale rather than leave them as the acquirer’s upside.
“We’re particularly excited to develop and deliver an embedded payments solution under the Motasoft brand, removing the traditional separation between the software platform and the payment experience.”Andrew Burgess, managing director, Motasoft
ClearCourse, which provides industry-specific software and embedded payments to SMEs, announced on 17 March 2026 that it has acquired Motasoft, whose garage management software is used by more than 1,200 UK automotive businesses. No price was disclosed.
Motasoft’s customers range from small independent garages and MOT stations to fast-fit tire centers. Its platform handles workshop and job management, customer and vehicle records and online booking, and the company had already moved into payments and customer transaction workflows before the sale. ClearCourse says independent garages use the software to compete with larger dealers and national chains.
The deal follows a familiar ClearCourse pattern. The group said in October 2024 that it had acquired more than 40 software and payments businesses in its core verticals, all supported by its own payments arm. ClearCourse argues that platforms acting as systems of record matter more as AI reshapes software because they generate the structured data new features need. Christina Hamilton, chief executive of ClearCourse, said the deal supports the group’s aim of helping UK SMEs with industry-specific technology.
Sources
- ClearCourse, “ClearCourse strengthens software offering for automotive SMEs with acquisition of specialist software provider, Motasoft Ltd”, press release, 17 March 2026. https://clearcourse.co.uk/clearcourse-acquires-motasoft/
- ClearCourse, “Software and Payments Specialist ClearCourse Acquires B2B eCommerce Platform GOb2b”, press release, 10 October 2024. https://clearcourse.co.uk/software-and-payments-specialist-clearcourse-acquires-b2b-ecommerce-platform-gob2b/
