Parking App SpotHero Raises $2.5 Million

Kira M. Newman Dec 13, 2012 Tweet

Today, parking app SpotHero announced $2.5 million in funding led by Battery Ventures.

SpotHero lets drivers reserve and pay for parking spots in garages in Chicago and Milwaukee. By negotiating with parking garages, they can offer lower rates than those for drive-up customers.

With the additional funding, they plan to hire software engineers, expand their marketing budget, and launch in new cities – though they haven’t decided which yet. SpotHero will also be releasing an Android app next week, to complement their iPhone app.

The Chicago startup, which graduated from Excelerate Labs (ranked the #5 top US accelerator), is one of several parking apps on the market today. For example, Parking Panda lets you reserve and pay for parking spots in 24 cities. SpotHero hopes to compete with apps like this with its product and customer service, including 24/7 customer support.

SpotHero was cofounded by Mark Lawrence, his college roommate Jeremy Smith, and Smith’s Motorola colleague Larry Kiss. Since then, their team has grown to over 10 people.

The funding round also included 500 Startups, David Cohen’s Bullet Time Ventures, e.ventures, OCA Ventures, New World Ventures, Lightbank, and Draper VC.