This Startup Is Making Car Ownership Carefree Launched in 2019, Park+ claims to solve issues such as access control (car security), car maintenance and digital car cleaning services for the 6,000,000 car owners using its platform
By Soumya Duggal •
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"Happiness is the smell of a new car," declares Mad Men protagonist Don Draper in a winning pitch that is as much about cigarettes in particular as advertising in general in the AMC series' pilot episode.
As per Amit Lakhotia, however, although a car purchase is a big milestone that translates into a lifestyle upgrade among Indian families, the initial dopamine boost fades away in a couple of months as daily hassles such as parking difficulties, tracking and paying off challans, cleaning, long traffic queues and maintenance services crowd the full car ownership experience.
"We launched an app, Park+, in 2019 to solve many of these issues in the car ownership ecosystem, including access control (car security), car maintenance, and digital car cleaning services. Today we have 6,000,000 cars on our platform," says Lakhotia, founder CEO, Park+.
Through an app that provides intervention, support, content and news, Park+ claims to be unlocking engagement opportunities among car owners, auto OEMs, insurance companies, banks and other allied services. "Our partnership with these stakeholders is very deep as we offer them access to the largest online community of car owners, incomparable to any other platform in India right now," states Lakhotia.
In December 2022, the company closed an INR 140 crore Series C round that was led by Epiq Capital II, Matrix Partners India and Sequoia Capital India. Park+ plans to use the funds to expand its teams across technology, marketing and sales: with a workforce of over 700 employees at present, the company will hire over 200 more staff this year in order to extend its services to over 100 cities in the coming eight to ten months.
"We connect with our users to check on their cars almost every day, starting with a carwash, parking, FASTag recharge, challan updates and more. An average customer of ours opens the Park+ app four to five times a month," adds Lakhotia.
