Huge opportunity as Irish parking app provider buys its Belgian rival
DUBLIN-BASED digital startup Parkpnp has bought a Belgian competitor in the potentially lucrative car-parking app market.
The purchase of self-described “digital disruptor” Sharemypark by the Irish company for an undisclosed amount will mark its first major move into the European car-parking market.
Parkpnp, launched in 2016 by entrepreneurs Garret Flower and Daniel Paul, has developed an app that allows users access to a parking spot marketplace where they can book parking spaces across Ireland on an hourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis.
The company said that it is now parking over 100,000 cars a year and has a growing number of partnerships with leading real estate, parking and hotel groups including MVGM, Euro Car Parks and IHG.
It now claims to have over 20,000 parking spaces listed across Europe.
The service allows users to rent car-parking spots across a wide range of locations, from private driveways to unused parking spots in commercial premises such as hotels.
App users can also list for free, advertise and then generate income from their unused or underutilised parking spaces, allowing drivers to find guaranteed parking on their PC or phones before reaching their destination.
Sharemypark was launched in 2016 as a marketplace for residential parking spots and is understood to have 10,000 regular users.
The acquisition by Parkpnp will see it rebranded as Parkpnp SPRL and will allow it to expand its market to hotels, commercial operators and retailers.
“We’re really excited to bring Sharemypark onboard,” said Parkpnp chief executive Garret Flower.
“Our complementary strengths are going to be a gamechanger for Belgian motorists. By locking down another market we will have the perfect launchpad to become the European market leader by 2020.”
Last September, this newspaper reported that the company was preparing to launch a €3m funding round. Parkpnp said that it has raised €1.1m to date and is “growing aggressively” across Europe.