Tag: parko

8 Israeli Tech Trends, 8 Crazy Nights 2014: Sharing Economy (5/8)

As Israel observes Hanukkah – a celebration of the light among the darkness – it’s time to highlight the tech trends creating sparks within the Startup Nation. Note, these trends are based on our deal flow – what our team sees on the ground. Trend 5/8: Sharing Economy How a trend is born:  You exit the airplane, get into a taxi, pick up the keys to your lodging and open the door… to someone else’s home. Airbnb has dramatically changed the way people find accommodations when they’re planning vacations. It’s just one member of a major startup trend: The sharing economy. This model, build on the sharing of human and tangible resources, is also referred to as peer-to-peer, mesh and collaborative consumption. Anything that can be created, produced or consumed is part of this socio-economic economy built for easy and cheaper acquisition of goods and services. ‘Sharing economy’ as a term began in the mid-2000s. Consider eBay, Craigslist and Krrb – these are all marketplaces that are built on a collaborative consumption model. Today, within the startup culture in both Israel and beyond, there...

Read More

OurCrowd’s portfolio company Parko featured in Globes

OurCrowd portfolio company Parko was featured in Globes, the leading Israeli financial daily. Parko is a smartphone app that saves drivers time by matching departing and arriving cars in parking situations. Crowdsourcing parking solution company Parko Ltd. has raised a $1.1 million seed round. Participating investors were SparkLabs Global Ventures, OurCrowd, and a syndicate of European angels. Parko’s new API allows drivers to find the optimal navigation route to a parking spot with real-time updates from other drivers. Parko’s technology analyzes the parking habits of opt-in users. Parko raised $385,000 from OurCrowd investors in 2012 and $398,800 in a follow-on funding round in January 2014. Read more on...

Read More

Driving Innovation: Top 10 Israeli ingenuities revolutionizing the way we travel

A recent article revealed the US cities with the worst commutes. According to the report, the average commuter in D.C. spent 67 hours stuck in traffic in 2012! Sadely, no matter how many times you travel the same route to the same destination, the experience is extremely stressful and frustrating. Israel, known for being the forefront of cutting-edge technologies in numerous fields, has also become a hub of innovative transportation solutions. No Camels, a news website on Israeli innovation, put together a list of amazing Israeli solutions that will help commuters worldwide get from point A to point B with more ease. Top 10 Tel Aviv Apps, Startups and Alternative Vehicles That Will Make Traveling So Much Easier! 1. MUVe: A cool way to get around MUVe is an all-electric scooter that can easily be transformed into a trolley suitecase in seconds, using a unique patent pending folding system. You can carry it anywhere, making it optimal for urban transport. The company’s mission is to offer commuters the ability to travel freely and safely in any urban environment without having to worry about finding a parking spot, gas prices, or traffic. The MUVe weighs 12-15kg, can go...

Read More

OurCrowd’s Parko featured in Bloomberg Businessweek

Bloomberg Businessweek featured OurCrowd portfolio company Parko this week, putting into context the story of the rise of Israeli traffic and parking apps. Tomer Neuner conceived of the Parko app when he was hunting for a parking space in Tel Aviv, circling his neighborhood on a sweltering summer day. “I thought to myself, there’s got to be a way to make the search more efficient for everyone,” says Neuner, 30, who quit his job as a product manager at financial-technology company SuperDerivatives to develop the app. Parko learns users’ habits by tracking their phones and predicts when they’re about to vacate a spot, alerting other drivers in the area. Neuner launched the app in Israel earlier this year and is planning to expand overseas, including to San Francisco and Paris. Read more on Bloomberg Businessweek here. Parko raised $350,000 from OurCrowd investors in...

Read More

Fast Company on Parko: an Israeli startup to watch after Google buys Waze

Fast Company called OurCrowd portfolio company Parko an Israeli startup “to watch” in the wake of Google’s gigantic $1B+ acquisition of Waze. Contributor Nadav Shemer describes Parko as among “the most innovative businesses likely to follow the crowdsourced mapping tool’s path to high-value exits.” “Recent studies show that city drivers spend at least 20 minutes on average searching for a parking spot. Parko has developed a crowdsourcing solution for parking in a similar vein to Waze’s solution for traffic: It connects motorists looking for a spot with others about to leave one, while its algorithm identifies parking spots without users needing to remove their phones from their pockets.” OurCrowd investors backed Parko with a $350,000 round in 2012. Read more on Fast Company’s site...

Read More
  • 1
  • 2