SpotHero is an American company which operates an online marketplace for drivers looking to reserve and pay for parking spaces with parking lots, parking garages and valet services. The marketplace is available in over 300 cities in the United States and Canada. The company is based in Chicago, Illinois. The platform is available via apps and the company's website.
In February 2026 it was announced that SpotHero would be acquired by Uber, with the closing expected to take place later in the year.
History Early beginnings SpotHero was founded by Mark Lawrence and Jeremy Smith in Chicago in 2011, with co-founder Larry Kiss joining the company soon after.Kate Rogers, "SpotHero: An app that makes parking reservations," CNBC, May 7, 2015. The company started out as a peer-to-peer parking marketplace, where people could rent out their own private parking spots, before expanding the platform to partner with parking companies and garages.Kia Kokalitcheva, "SpotHero launches its parking app in SF, and on-demand valet startups should worry," VentureBeat, December 9, 2014.Alex Moazed, "SpotHero Paves the Way for Parking," Inc., November 18, 2016.
In December 2012, SpotHero raised $2.5 million in venture capital funds from Battery Ventures (lead), 500 Startups, Bullet Time, e.Ventures, OCA Ventures, New World Ventures, Lightbank, and Draper Associates; at the time, it only served Milwaukee and Chicago. In June 2014, SpotHero raised an additional $4.5 million in funding and announced new board of directors members, including LinkedIn's Mike Gamson, Match.com's Sam Yagan, and venture capitalist Sam Guren. The company raised $20 million in Series B funding in 2015,Kristen Hall-Geisler, "SpotHero is ready for the future of autonomous parking," TechCrunch, September 8, 2016. and an additional $30 million in a Series C round in July 2017.John Pletz, "SpotHero tops off with another $30 million," Crain's Chicago Business, July 18, 2017. In September 2018, the company raised an additional $10 million, bringing its total raised since launching to $68 million. In August 2019 SpotHero announced $50 million in Series D funding led by Macquarie Capital, bringing the company's total funding to date to $118 million.
Growth and expansion Between 2011 and 2013, the company expanded from 5 employees to 22, grew to seven business markets (Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Baltimore, Newark, and Milwaukee) and opened an office in New York City. By August 2015, SpotHero serviced 5 additional cities: Denver, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. In July 2016, the company expanded to Los Angeles,Ally Marotti, "SpotHero expands to LA, plans to add other West Coast cities", Chicago Tribune, July 19, 2016. and in January 2017 added 13 additional cities, including Austin, Indianapolis, Miami and San Diego.Meg Graham, "Chicago-based parking startup SpotHero pulls into 13 new markets", Chicago Tribune, January 26, 2017. As of November 2020, the company operates in over 400 cities in North America with a network of over 11,000 facilities.
SpotHero for Business was launched in March 2017, as a business-focused service with tools for paying, managing and organizing parking expenses.Paul Sawers, "SpotHero for Business launches to help employees submit parking expenses directly" , VentureBeat, March 15, 2017. The company also launched a developer platform to allow businesses to integrate parking reservations into their existing apps.Paul Sawers, "SpotHero launches developer platform to expand its parking inventory into third-party apps" , VentureBeat, February 14, 2017. In May 2017, SpotHero announced a partnership with commuter employee benefits administrator WageWorks allowing users to pay pre-tax dollars for daily parking near their places of work.Cheryl V. Jackson, "SpotHero, WageWorks team up for pretax on-demand parking near your job", Chicago Tribune, May 16, 2017.
In 2018, SpotHero was named to Time magazine's inaugural list of 50 Genius Companies that are inventing the future.
In March 2019, SpotHero partnered with transit app Moovit to offer drivers the chance to view and book off-street parking near transit stations in San Francisco. In June 2019, it was reported that SpotHero was partnering with Waze, a GPS navigation software app owned by Google, to link their navigation and parking into a unified user experience.
In 2023, the company launched Flex Rates, a customizable dynamic pricing product allowing operators of parking garages or lots to adjust prices based on real-time data.
Sale to Uber On February 23, 2026, it was announced that SpotHero would be acquired by Uber. Terms of the sale were not disclosed, with the sale expected to close later in the year. In announcing the acquisition, Uber announced that it would offer a "parking reservation experience" powered by SpotHero that would allow Uber users to find parking spaces for places such as airports and venues using the Uber app.
Acquisitions SpotHero acquired San Francisco-based peer-to-peer parking marketplace ParkPlease in April 2015.Amina Elahi, "SpotHero buys ParkPlease in attempt to bolster San Francisco presence," Chicago Tribune, April 21, 2015.John Pletz, "SpotHero acquires San Francisco competitor," Crain's Chicago Business, April 21, 2015.
In April 2017, SpotHero acquired Parking Panda, a Baltimore-based services and event parking company.Amina Elahi, "SpotHero buys Baltimore-based competitor Parking Panda," Chicago Tribune, April 13, 2017.Kristen Hall-Geisler, "SpotHero acquires Parking Panda," TechCrunch, April 13, 2017. The acquisition expanded SpotHero into Canada, and brought the number of parking locations the company could reserve at to over 5,000.
In November 2020, SpotHero acquired the Toronto-based app Rover Parking.
See also ParkWhiz Parking Panda
References
External links Official website