AppyParking

AppyWay (formerly AppyParking and Yellow Line Parking) is a technology company which provides parking apps and services for drivers. It was founded in London in 2013 by Dan Hubert initially under the name of Yellow Line Parking. It produces software that shows on-street and off-street parking options in major cities in the UK.[1][2] The app is available on both Android and iOS. There is also a paid-for enterprise app, AppyParking Pro, which is a software as a service aimed at businesses with fleets.

AppyWay
FormerlyAppyParking / Yellow Line Parking Ltd
TypePrivate
IndustryTransportation
Founded2013
FoundersDan Hubert
HeadquartersFarringdon, London,
United Kingdom
Area served
London, UK-wide
BrandsAppyParking, Yellow Line Parking
Number of employees
56

History

AppyParking was founded by Dan Hubert, a former advertising creative in 2012.[3][4] Hubert started to contact every London borough and digitize their Controlled Parking Zones from basic PDF maps. Originally named Yellow Line Parking, dealing only with single yellow line parking restrictions, the company was expanded and rebranded as AppyParking in 2014.[5]

In late 2014, the company was part of the Microsoft Ventures Accelerator programme in London,[6] during which Eric Requena, the company's chief technology officer, was advised to revise much of the application code.[7]

In December 2014, AppyParking launched an enterprise app aimed at commercial fleets,[8] and at the CES 2015 in January 2015 Ford announced a partnership with the company.[9] Later in the year, the company ran a one-month trial in Westminster, London with Vodafone xone and Pimlico Plumbers.[10] When a driver located a parking space with the help of the app, they clicked a button in the app when they arrived and simply drove away later, being billed only for the time they were parked.[10] This was made possible by the sensors already built into parking bays.[11][12]

Since January 2016, AppyParking provides a feature which shows the nearest and cheapest petrol stations anywhere in the UK.[13]

In September 2016, founder Dan Hubert appeared on BBC business show Dragon's Den seeking investment to expand the service, valuing the company at £10m ($13.33m) based on a 2% equity offered for a sum of £200,000 ($266666.67).[14] He was unsuccessful after declining two offers from Peter Jones and Nick Jenkins, who instead valued the company at £1m ($1.33m).[14]

In July 2019 AppyParking closed a Series A round of investment worth £7.6m ($10.13m) from investors including Hyundai Motor Company and Sumitomo Corporation, led by London based venture capital firm, West Hill Capital[15].[16] The company has raised a total of £11m ($14.67m)[16] as of 2019 and is now valued at £50m ($66.67m) after its 2019 round.[17]

As of 2019, AppyParking hosts the largest dataset of the UK's kerbside restrictions, with over 450 UK towns and cities mapped within the AppyParking mobile app and Kerbside API.[18]

AppyParking rebranded as AppyWay in September 2019.[19]

AppyWay launched its second Smart City Parking scheme in the town of Halifax in October 2019.[20]

Technology

AppyWay uses Google Maps overlays to display areas, and projects its dataset in the form of pins.[21] The app retrieves the user's location and the present date and time to provide a list of prices, and connects with routing apps like Maps and Waze to direct the user to the parking site.[21]

References
  1. Blake, Imogen. "Camden businessman creates innovative parking app to find London's free car spaces". Hampstead Highgate Express. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  2. "AppyParking launches in Birmingham! | Digital Birmingham". digitalbirmingham.co.uk. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  3. Jennifer Whitehead, "Dan Hubert and Amber Casey create viral advert for Volkswagen" Brand Republic, 30 September 2003
  4. "Parking woes? AppyParking is your new best friend | Warrantywise". www.warrantywise.co.uk. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  5. Beth Parnell-Hopkinson, "AppyParking aims to be 'guardian angel' for drivers" Transport Xtra, 23 March 2013
  6. Marc McLaren, "AppyParking Startup Diaries" Stuff Magazine, 15 October 2014
  7. Wattanajantra, Asavin (9 September 2015). "Microsoft Ventures alumni AppyParking goes national". Microsoft. Archived from the original on 13 December 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  8. "AppyParkingPro for businesses" Archived 1 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine AppyParking
  9. Chris Plante, "AppyParking and Ford" The Verge, 6 January 2015
  10. "App-based Parking Trialled in Westminster | Mobile Marketing Magazine". mobilemarketingmagazine.com. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  11. "AppyParking determined to become the Uber of parking". The Memo. Archived from the original on 23 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  12. "Could new app save YOU money?". getwestlondon. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  13. "Nearest and cheapest petrol exposed by AppyParking". www.fleetnews.co.uk. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  14. Dragons’ Den: Series 14, Episode 7 – Startups.co.uk: Starting a business advice and business ideas
  15. https://www.uktechnews.info/2019/07/16/appyparking-secures-7-6-million-series-a-investment-led-by-west-hill-capital/
  16. "AppyParking closes £7.6m Series A". UKTN (UK Tech News). 17 July 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  17. "Parking space hunter valued at £50m". Evening Standard. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  18. Tomkins, Georgia (16 March 2020). "Mapping a solution for the pain of parking". AppyWay. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  19. "Appyway launches smart city parking scheme in Halifax". www.fleetnews.co.uk. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  20. Council, Calderdale. "Appy news for drivers!". News Centre - Official news site of Calderdale Council. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  21. "Appyparking Case Study". Google Cloud. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
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