Parking in a city is stressful, but FlashParking is on a quest to make parking smarter for both parkers and providers. Wednesday, the company announced it raised $60 million in new financing from private equity firm L Catterton to do just that.
The Austin-based startup’s software is cloud-based, providing real-time data and variable pricing options for parking space providers like hospitals, stadiums, hotels and city governments. Garages can manage everything from valet to monthly parking, access according to spot availability and customer payments via one platform.
When FlashParking was founded in 2011, the company mainly specialized in valet parking and automated garages. As cities continue to get smarter, FlashParking sees itself as the foundation for a new kind of technology that goes beyond simplifying car parking.
Through partnerships and business integrations, the company plans to create new uses for parking garages, where its software can be used for additional means of transportation and mobility like electric vehicle charging and servicing, and drone launching. The aim for these tech-enabled mobility hubs is to create more business opportunities for parking providers and make customers’ lives easier.
“Over the last nine years, we have built the FlashParking platform with quality and adaptability in mind by making it cloud-based, mobile-first and future-ready,” Juan Rodriguez, the company’s CEO and co-founder, said in a statement. “This unique platform has allowed us to configure an operating system that’s not only the best solution for parking infrastructure today, but also a model that’s ready for tomorrow.”
According to a news release, FlashParking will use this most recent funding to push forward with its mobility hub operations.
FlashParking is currently managing 30,000 parking spaces through a partnership with Texas Medical Center in Houston, the world’s largest medical facility. It also boasts 6 million customers who use its services to pay for parking each month, bringing in around $1 billion in revenue, according to the company.
