ParqEx is a technology company that connects owners of private parking spaces to people looking for parking. In urban areas where parking demand is high but options are scarce or expensive, ParqEx helps the driving public by listing exclusive parking spots owned by local residents and businesses. Using ParqEx, the owners of these spaces are able to earn supplemental income from an underutilized asset while renters get exclusive access to convenient parking locations.
The ParqEx support team ensures that the entire process of listing, reserving, parking, and paying is smooth and transparent for all parties.
One of ParqEx’s unique features is that it offers the ability to communicate directly with parking space owners through its platform. The organization’s innovative IoT solution called Access+ allows renters and approved users to open any garage door or gate with their smart phones.
Implementing Access+ increases rental opportunities, improves transparency into garage usage, and provides great convenience for both owners and renters.
As ParqEx is based on IoT, garage fobs and key cards are no longer needed, giving users one less thing to worry about, pay for, and carry. This is especially useful in cities where fees associated with garage fobs can be as high as $250.
The Undisputed Leader
Vivek Mehra is the Founder and CEO of ParqEx. He has built the organization from the ground up, starting with the initial idea, moving to product development, then to raising capital and then successfully growing the company in Chicago and nationally.
As a Founder, he has more than 20 years of experience in technical leadership and an outstanding track record of creating technology vision, setting strategic IT direction, and steering innovative technology roadmaps to align with corporate strategy and business objectives.
He has worked for Fortune 500 and start-up companies as a Software Developer, Technology Architect, Chief Technology Officer, Board of Director, and Founder. Vivek’s strength lies in building technology companies and he has previously successfully built two companies from the ground up; through idea, development, raising capital, Mergers & Acquisitions, and, the sale of the company.
Standing Out with Innovative Offerings
ParqEx is different from the other platforms primarily because it is focused on private parking. Its network includes multi-family housing, office buildings, real-estate developers, property managers, REITs and individuals with driveways and parking spots. ParqEx’s technology was built to unlock this underutilized private parking supply while other companies in the field are focused on aggregating commercial parking lots and garages.
ParqEx has three main offerings:
Marketplace: Here, anyone who owns or manages a parking spot can make it available for rent. ParqEx’s supply comes from a wide variety of property types – homes, non-profits, retail, open lots, etc. Owners decide how they want to set the availability and price, and the platform handles the rest.
GuestParq: This is ParqEx’s platform designed specifically to improve the guest parking experience for building tenants, managers, and guests alike. It allows for improved transparency and efficiency in terms of booking, paying, and renting parking for approved guests.
Access+: This is ParqEx’s proprietary “Internet of Things” (IoT) solution for controlling doors and gates through its app. It works with most garage door openers and gate motors, making access to secure parking spots much more efficient. This technology can be used on its own simply as an access technology, or it can be combined with Marketplace to increase rental opportunities, or with GuestParq to streamline the parking experience for guests.
Weathering Turbulence
The journey for ParqEx has been a humbling learning experience. In its first 2 years, Vivek bootstrapped the company and balancing growth with limited resources was a challenge. However, in 2016, revenue grew 32% month-over-month, and the team felt confident that with enough resources, it could accelerate even further.
Vivek decided to raise external funding and ParqEx’s first seed round was 800% oversubscribed. With access to adequate resources, he started expanding its operations into new markets, then growing pains took. Today, ParqEx has a go-tomarket playbook that makes it much easier to launch new markets.
Current Strategy and Future Plans
ParqEx’s proprietary technology unlocks the hidden value sitting idle in privately-owned parking spaces. With ParqEx, property owners and managers can increase income, reduce operating costs, simplify management, and provide a valuable amenity to residents and guests.
The organization believes ridesharing companies, connected and driverless cars, and smart city initiatives are changing the way people live and commute, which in turn has a major impact on real estate development and utilization, especially parking.
ParqEx’s technology roadmap is aligned with this future and the company plans to be an integral part of the integrated real estate and transportation ecosystem.
Source :-The 20 Most Innovative IoT Companies to Watch 2018
