Startups
‘Waze of Parking’ app SpotAngels raises $2.3 million
SpotAngels, an app that uses crowdsourced data to help drivers find parking and avoid tickets, has raised $2.3 million from a group of investors that includes Google Maps co-founder Lars Rasmussen.
Luc Vincent, the former head of Google Street View and vice president of engineering at Lyft, as well as Y Combinator, Streamlined Ventures and Via ID also invested in the round.
The startup plans to use the funding to expand to other U.S. cities and improve its free mobile app, including a new “predicted availability” feature that it hopes to launch later this year. The new feature allows drivers to know what the odds are of finding a spot in any given area before heading there.
The existing app works like a network — the more users, the better the intel. Once a user installs the app, it can provide real-time data to the greater SpotAngels community. The app, which uses the car’s Bluetooth connection or phone motion sensors, knows when the user’s vehicle is parking or leaving a spot.
The app also displays the location of all street parking spots and garages with detailed rules and prices that is kept current through its users. Drivers use it to find free street parking, the cheapest parking meter or garage.
The startup’s newest “predicted availability” feature, which is expected to launch in San Francisco by the end of year, takes historical parking data from dashcam videos that SpotAngels collects through members of its community.
SpotAngels uses computer vision technology to count parked cars on these videos to determine how occupied streets are at a given time.
The app is available in 20 U.S. cities, including San Francisco and New York City.
-
Business6 days ago
Lordstown Motors’ ousted CEO settles with SEC for misleading investors
-
Business5 days ago
Apple sued, Microsoft’s AI ambitions and Nvidia’s surprises
-
Business4 days ago
TechCrunch Mobility: The wheels are starting to come off the Fisker EV bus
-
Entertainment4 days ago
Amazon Big Spring Sale 2024: Shop 350+ deals on Apple, robot vacuums, security cameras, more
-
Business3 days ago
Maju Kuruvilla is out as CEO of one-click checkout company Bolt
-
Entertainment2 days ago
Where’s the AI in these ‘AI-powered’ products for your home?
-
Entertainment3 days ago
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024): The MacBook Pro of gaming laptops
-
Entertainment6 days ago
Amazon’s Big Spring Sale 2024: Shop 340+ deals on Apple, robot vacuums, security cameras, more