South African smart parking software management solution has launched operations in Cape Town’s CBD with plans to expand nationally and internationally later this year.
Founded by Joshua Raphael, Parket delivers an intuitive software management platform that interfaces seamlessly with IoT-driven access technology and an app to allow corporate landlords to allocate parking bays without the need for spreadsheets, log books or access tags. Entry and exits to the premises are fitted with Parket’s IoT-enabled Licence Plate Reader and QR Code scanner for visitor access.
In addition, landlords have a real-time view of bay occupancy and, coupled with the data-led intelligence that the platform provides, are able to market unused bays by listing them on Parket’s mobile app, thereby creating a new revenue stream. The Parket App helps motorists to search, find, book and pay for parking from their smartphones.
For standalone parkades, shopping malls and retail centres, Parket’s system offers a no-touch, cashless and ticketless parking system that also utilises Licence Plate Readers and QR Code scanners to enable parking access. Prior to travel, app users can pre-book daily or monthly parking, and upon arrival simply drive up to the ramp and gain admittance.
The idea for Parket came about after Raphael’s observation of drivers making their way up and down the congested streets of Cape Town, “negotiating peak hour traffic and paying exorbitant fees for street-side parking”, while nearby indoor parkades stood unused.
“There was so much demand for parking, and the fact that required supply was right next to it presented a solid reason to do something that would bridge this divide with a solution that’s leaps ahead of anything else in the market,” he said.
Raphael duly registered Parket in January 2019, and has since been exploring every facet of the vehicle parking industry. He found that there was no single supplier to the parking industry that offered a truly end-to-end solution.
“Some modern parking systems manage access control and others manage the paperless hourly-only allocation of parking bays or a marketplace for vacant bays. The gap that was spotted in the market, that Parket has now filled, is for a platform that seamlessly integrates all these functionalities into a single interface that would be easily manageable from a mobile app,” he said.
The self-funded startup has secured some angel funding to further enhance its development and roll out its solution nationally. It has currently deploying across some large and medium sized parking facilities in the Cape Town CBD, with thousands of users accessing parking bays at these parking lots. Raphael said this is just the beginning.
“Parket is currently gearing to scale and endeavours to roll out the solution nationally and internationally later this year,” he said.
