ParkWhiz is an e-parking service that allows users to book parking spaces before reaching their destinations. ParkWhiz headquarters is located in
Chicago, Illinois
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Origins
ParkWhiz was founded in 2006 by Aashish Dalal and Jon Thornton.
The company CEO is Yona Shtern. ParkWhiz works with 4,000 parking facilities in over 50 major cities and 35 states.
Founders Dalal and Thornton conceived of the ParkWhiz concept in 2004 after becoming frustrated with the problem of locating parking during
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
games.
While parking spaces were available at various parking facilities, there was no organized system for determining their location or their price.
The ParkWhiz service allows users to locate and purchase parking spaces online and on
mobile devices
A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...
before reaching their destinations.
As of March 2019 ParkWhiz employs over 100 people in the United States, Israel and the Philippines.
Services
ParkWhiz allows drivers to locate and purchase daily, monthly, and event parking through its web and mobile applications.
Users of the ParkWhiz service are able to compare prices, locations, and amenities.
After drivers select a spot and process their payment, they are given an electronic parking pass that can be printed or presented on a
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
or
tablet.
In 2013, as part of its first growth beyond Chicago, ParkWhiz expanded its monthly parking feature to New York City,
offering approximately 200 locations.
The company organized parking for the
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
in 2010 and parked an estimated 30% of Super Bowl traffic in 2012.
Partnerships and acquisitions
* In late 2015, ParkWhiz acquired BestParking.
* A partnership with Ford was announced at the Detroit Auto Show in 2016, where a range of ParkWhiz services including smart parking would be integrated into the FordPass app.
* In 2018, ParkWhiz acquired CodiPark, a Tel Aviv-based company, to add drive up mobile payments to its platform.
* Also in 2018, ParkWhiz paired with
Groupon
Groupon is an American global e-commerce marketplace connecting subscribers with local merchants by offering activities, travel, goods and services in 13 countries. Based in Chicago, Groupon was launched there in November 2008, launching soon af ...
to offer ParkWhiz's services through the Groupon app.
* ParkWhiz is a partner app in Concur's app center, allowing
Concur
In Western jurisprudence, concurrence (also contemporaneity or simultaneity) is the apparent need to prove the simultaneous occurrence of both ("guilty action") and ("guilty mind"), to constitute a crime; except in crimes of strict liability ...
users and business travellers to mail e-receipts from ParkWhiz bookings.
* ParkWhiz is the official parking provider for
StubHub
StubHub is an American ticket exchange and resale company. It provides services for buyers and sellers of tickets for sports, concerts, theater, and other live entertainment events. It is the world's largest ticket marketplace. While the company ...
. Customers who buy tickets on StubHub are offered parking through ParkWhiz.
* ParkWhiz is an official partner of
Barclays Center
Barclays Center is a multi-purpose list of indoor arenas, indoor arena in the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Brooklyn. The arena is home to the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association and the New York Liberty o ...
in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, NY, with dasherboard ads and in-game promotions running during select
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...
hockey games.
* ParkWhiz is the official parking app of the Boston Red Sox.
* In late 2018, ParkWhiz began a partnership with
GasBuddy
GasBuddy is a tech company based in Boston that operates apps and websites based on finding real-time fuel prices at more than 140,000 gas stations in the United States and Canada. They also sell software products to convenience store owners vi ...
on their app, connected to their "Pay With Gasbuddy" service.
Financial information
The company was a bootstrapped venture until December 2012 when it raised $2 million in Series A funding led by Hyde Park Venture Partners.
Other investors in the round included:
Alexis Ohanian
Alexis Kerry Ohanian ( hy, Ալեքսիս Քերի Օհանյան; born April 24, 1983) is an American internet entrepreneur and investor. He is best known as the co-founder and executive chairman of the social media site Reddit along with Ste ...
of
Reddit
Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...
, Ira Weiss, Henry J. Feinberg, and Amicus Capital.
ParkWhiz reported that the funding was used to broaden the company's reach and prepare for its first
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
and
Android app releases.
In July 2014, ParkWhiz raised $10 million in a Series B round of funding led by venture fund Jump Capital. The Series B round has allowed ParkWhiz to improve its mobile experience, expand its offerings and hire additional employees.
At the End of 2015, ParkWhiz raised $24 million in a Series C round of funding led by Baird Capital with participation by growth capital investor Beringea and existing investor Jump Capital.
References
{{reflist, 2
External links
Official websiteParkWhiz Blog
Transport companies established in 2006
Companies based in Chicago
American companies established in 2006
2006 establishments in Illinois