SpotHero outfits 500 autonomous garages to secure a spot in the self-driving future

Parking spot startup SpotHero announced they have outfitted 500 of their garages in the Chicago area for self-driving cars. And, while self-driving cars may be miles away, the company is already betting on an autonomous future.

This parking startup is in a good Spot to invest

SpotHero has grown rapidly over the past several years, as their $57.5m in funding gave the company enough cash to acquire 2 competitors, ParkPlease (2015) and Parking Panda (2017). 

To hold their spot as the nation’s leading parking app, CEO Mark Lawrence has been preparing for an autonomous future since 2016.

You didn’t expect them to wait for self-driving cars to exist, did you?

But, when they are, SpotHero will be waiting with open spots. The company has already installed sensors that lets cars book and pay for themselves.

More importantly, SpotHero created a software development kit called HeroConnect that will allow Uber, Lyft, Waymo and others to integrate with their platform.

So far, Bosch and Daimler have introduced a self-driving valet system, and smaller startups have automated parking systems in development. But SpotHero, which already operates in 96 different cities, has the biggest head start.