SpotHero, a marketing platform for parking garage owners that launched in Chicago two years ago, has soft-launched in D.C. while it mulls a larger D.C. expansion. According to Alex Kruger, vice president of business development, SpotHero is looking to expand to the East Coast but hasn't yet decided on a location. Boston, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York City are all under consideration.
"Finding a parking spot isn't like finding a hotel room," Kruger explains, "so we created a platform." The app and online platform allow garages to market empty parking places to consumers at a reduced rate. Consumers can then reserve and pay for parking in advance. Depending on operator needs, spaces can be rented hourly, daily, or even monthly. Consumers pay no fees beyond the list price of the parking space, and SpotHero makes a commission from the listed price of each space that is reserved.
"We have 150 garages onboard in Chicago," Kruger states. "It's been incredibly successful."
SpotHero was founded by Mark Lawrence, Jeremy Smith and Larry Kiss and developed out of Excelerate Labs (which has since merged with TechStars) in Chicago. "Mark and Jeremy came up with the idea," Kruger explains, "after they got more than $3,500 in parking tickets in Chicago. Finding parking was clearly a pain point."
The first iteration of SpotHero offered peer-to-peer transactions, "like Airbnb but for parking," Kruger says. "But that was hard to aggregate. It worked for sporting events and concerts." By that point, a few garages had signed on. So, in true startup form, the company decided to pivot and concentrate fully on garage offerings.
As for whether or not SpotHero will maintain a physical presence in D.C., Kruger says the founders are still deciding. "New York City has more garages. But the cars per capita [there] are lower. D.C. is flourishing, so it's a huge option for us."