BaseUp has already snared clients including CBA and Westpac, now it is hitting the US after raising funds to try to profit from empty carparks.
BaseUp, a Sydney-based tech start-up that has built a platform used by clients including Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Bank and EY to make better use of their empty car park spaces, has bucked the tech industry downturn, closing an investment round to fund expansion in the US.
BaseUp co-founder Jack Perkins is staying in Sydney, while his co-founder and CEO Alex Peck works from Denver to drive its US efforts.Whereas Parallel Parking had been pitched somewhat as an Airbnb for car parking, whereby people could use it to rent out their driveways, BaseUp competes with the likes of Divvy Parking to go after the more lucrative corporate market, where a shift to hybrid working has left office car parks even emptier than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funding round in 2017 had included money from four high net worth angel investors, with other wealthy property and tech entrepreneurs investing in 2019. The fresh funding round included money from its earlier investors, but was led by a new backer in Australian venture capital firm Marbruck Investments.
“We had a nervous couple of weeks and months when we were working out how the market was going to respond to COVID, but by and large, it’s been incredibly beneficial for us.