Chirag Jain, an engineering graduate from Galgotias University and an MBA from IIT Madras, was continuously talking about the parking space issue with his friends for quite some time. At that time, he was working with the Carwale.com. He realised the problem can be solved only if the supply of parking lots (the operators) is digitised. This got the idea of 'Get My Parking', a startup, in motion.
Chirag approached Rasik Pansare, who did his MBA from FMS Delhi and started a pilot at a mall parking in Noida, in April 2015. For the next three months, the duo spent countless hours at parking lots to understand the industry and improve the prototype of the mobile app to make the product- market fit. "We spent our personal savings, borrowed money from friends, family and got credit limit from vendors. With dozens of parking lots coming on board within months, we received angel investment of Rs 2.5 crore from The Chennai Angels in January 2016. We have been growing ever since," Rasik said.
He said, "We have had to pivot our strategy and adapt for sake of maximising our impact. Our team has learnt a lot over the last three years and we have changed our approach accordingly. Our objective is to be the number one parking company globally, in terms of parking transactions processed. We are well on track for that. We process two million parking transactions every month and have projects going on in three countries."
According to Raisk, the annual turnover is in eight digits and it is growing fast. "We have 65 full-time employees across Delhi and Bengaluru," he added. "Recently, we acquired a Bengaluru-based competitor called Constapark. This acquisition comes on the heels of Get My Parking’s recent $3 Million Series A Funding. Investors who participated in that round included their existing pre-series A investors, IAN Fund, BEENEXT and others. They have raised $4.5 million in total so far," Rasik said.
He also says smart parking can streamline this entire process. "It makes it a hassle-free experience for both drivers and parking management officials. Sensors embedded in the ground, cameras mounted on light poles and building structures determine parking space availability. This data is relayed to a central cloud platform to create a real-time parking map. Drivers can use this map on their mobile phone, to find parking. Also, parking control officers can determine areas of violations using the app."
Smart parking is not just about managing parking spaces but also about simplifying transportation. "With the help of Internet of Things (IoT), the app can sync occupancy sensors, light sensors, server and other systems, thus minimising traffic, reducing pollution and maximising revenue," said Rasik
Rasik said, "Our vision is to make parking a sub-conscious experience. We are just getting started and at present have over 200 parking locations in Delhi. We also have a smart parking ecosystem consisting of over 20 companies."
