Parking your vehicle in Bengaluru is a task for all Bengalureans, and bringing respite to this dire situation is Park Zebra, a startup that uses technology to solve parking-related issues. It enables drivers to find public parking facilities that may or may not be affiliated with ParkZebra, giving drivers the widest possible range of options. Founded in 2015, with technology centres in Canada and India, ParkZebra is led by Uday Maitra, TN Pratap and Anton Svendrovski
When Express spoke to co-founder Pratap, he said "The main reason we started this service was to assist consumers to find parking spots without any hassle, even in busy areas. The organization is self-funded, we'd like to call it friend and family funded’’
Maitra says, "We aim to reach a million customers over time. Right now, in Bengaluru, we are expecting a download of 10,000. We are using online as well as offline media, and are also trying our best to promote the app on social media, radio, and more." Talking about how different this app is from others, Pratap says, "As far as Bengaluru is concerned, there is no app that gives three components involved which is search, reserve and pays in advance."
The founders of ParkZebra want to expand their market. Maitra says, "I personally know how bad the traffic and parking conditions are in Bengaluru. We are also launching this service in Mumbai and Delhi. Our team has already begun researching on Delhi, and we will soon launch there."
ParkZebra is concentrating more on shopping malls and hubs in Bengaluru, and assure that they can improve parking condition there. Pratap says, "Places like Commercial Street and MG Road are a mess during weekends, and during festival time, there is hardly any space to park."
Forum Mall in Koramangala has started to use this app. A senior official at the mall says, ‘ParkZebra is a great in facilitating parking at the mall. On weekends, parking becomes hectic, and it becomes really difficult to control traffic."
