Tech startup SpotHero secures $50 million Series D funding to curb the rise of urban congestion and transform the $20 billion off-street parking industry

SpotHero, the #1 consumer marketplace and mobility platform for off-street parking in North America, has $50 million in Series D funding to accelerate marketplace growth, expand the digital platform for the parking industry, strengthen partnerships with leading mobility companies, and deepen SpotHero’s technology stack to standardize and optimize access to parking throughout North America. The round, which was led by Macquarie Capital, brings SpotHero’s total funding to date to $118 million. Backers include Union Grove Venture Partners along with existing investors including Insight Venture Partners, Global Founders Capital, OCA Ventures, AutoTech Ventures and others.

SpotHero is curbing the rise of urban congestion by changing the way millions of people park every day. Using SpotHero’s portfolio of mobile apps and websites, drivers find, book and access a parking facility near their destination, eliminating the need to circle the block in search of parking. SpotHero’s platform enables leading mobility companies to build seamless parking experiences directly into their products.

Founded in 2011 by Jeremy Smith, Lawrence Kiss, and Mark Lawrence, the Chicago, IL-based SpotHero is driving the digital transformation of the $20B off-street parking industry with hardware and software solutions aimed at drivers, parking operators and property owners, and mobility partners. The company offers the largest place to buy and sell parking in North America and has helped digitize nearly 7,000 parking facilities in the US and Canada. SpotHero’s consumer products help millions of drivers find, book and access parking, while the SpotHero developer platform and API powers parking at scale for fleets, connected cars, and urban mobility apps.

At the intersection of infrastructure, real estate and technology, parking remains an industry in transition. It is being redefined by three of the biggest trends affecting cities today: mobility, congestion, and sustainability. By 2050, 68% of the world’s population is projected to live in cities, where aging infrastructure is already being pushed to the brink. In response, policymakers are experimenting with immediate solutions to reduce traffic, including congestion pricing and curb redesign, designating dedicated curb space for multi-modal use such as bike lanes or pick up and drop off zones. This transformation of the curb is reducing the availability of on-street parking and beginning to push more drivers to off-street facilities. To accelerate and streamline this transition, SpotHero is bringing underutilized and often invisible parking spaces online, reducing the need to build even more new parking structures in crowded cities.

“By standardizing the way parking is bought and sold, we are introducing the same visibility into parking inventory that people expect from the airline or hospitality industries,” said Mark Lawrence, CEO and co-founder, SpotHero. “That’s a big win for drivers, but there’s still a lot of work to be done to modernize parking. Together with our network of more than 1,000 operator and platform partners, and our new and existing investors, we look forward to bringing this next phase of industry growth to life.”

“SpotHero is in position to transform the entire parking industry and has built a foundation to support the future of mobility for a long time to come, including the movement towards shared use and EV fleets,” said Lucas Joynt, Senior Vice President, Macquarie Capital. “SpotHero’s leadership position makes the company an attractive investment for Macquarie Capital as we continue to drive innovation at the intersection of infrastructure, real estate and technology. We look forward to supporting SpotHero as it scales to its next phase of growth.”