Construct Venture invest in Parqio
Startup Parqio has an ambitious goal to improve urban environments through its smart garage system. Now OBOS and AF Gruppen are joining the team as investors.
When the Parqio saw the day of light in 2019, they grappled a hitherto unsolved task – creating a digital and future-oriented solution for the administration of garages in co-ownerships, housing cooperatives, commercial properties and industrial buildings.
Two years later the company is seeing significant growth and has several residential projects on its list of clients, and is now being joined by OBOS and AF Gruppen as owners through Construct Venture and OBOS Oppstart.
Today residents with shared parking facilities only have the opportunity to open garage doors via a phone call or text message or a physical remote control. We want to eliminate the garage door as a barrier to services and new opportunities, and the ambition is to develop the solution to also become a platform that enables the efficient utilisation of garage facilities, especially suited to densely populated areas,” explains general manager Ketil Høigaard of Parqio.
A door opener to the industry
The solution is as simple as it is smart; it allows users and housing cooperatives to seamlessly open garage doors via camera or a specially developed app. A housing cooperative with a closed garage system that wants to use Parqio needs only an additional component from Parqio.
“The solution currently on the market simplifies the board or manager’s administration of the garage. It is further simplified that the remote control is replaced by a mobile app. Players such as Defigo and Unloc use other technology for front doors, and here there are already partnerships to integrate each other’s solutions to cover the entire building’s access requirements,” says Jan Fossgård, Director of OBOS- and AF-owned Construct Venture.
“Through OBOS Oppstart we want to invest in sustainable companies that contribute to digitise the building, construction and real estate industries to the benefit of our members and customers. We strongly believe that Parqio’s technology will lead to better utilisation of the parking facility, especially in big cities where parking is scarce. In time Parqio will also facilitate a wide range of third party solutions,” says EVP Ingunn Andersen Randa of OBOS.
With these investments, Parqio will gain access to OBOS and AF’s projects, and the companies’ expertise. For other startup companies, this has worked as a door opener to the industry.
“We have tested the solution in several AF and OBOS projects, with great success. The user friendliness, potential and Parqio’s ambitions for the future are a good fit in our portfolio of startups, and we’re looking froward to following the company and supporting the development of the product,” Fossgård says.
Wants to become the Airbnb of parking facilities
Parqio’s ambition is to develop the solution into a platform that also enables efficient utilisation of parking facilities, especially suited to densely populated areas. The ambition is that the platform shall include integrations with a number of service providers, including car sharing, charging stations, home deliveries and home services, that allow private individuals and property managers to utilise the capacity as they wish.
“Parqio will be able to help create more space for what we want more of in the cities, such as more and better cycle paths, green areas and pedestrian streets,” explains general manager Ketil Høigaard of Parqio. In addition, we make it possible for garage managers to utilise the space in the garage in completely new ways – for example through new services coming to the garage or renting out vacant spaces.
The solution is being developed so that the manager can decide whether the services are made available only to the residents linked to the garage facilities. The platform will ensure that the garage door opens at the right time for those who have legitimate access.
“Parqio provides a digital garage key and makes free garage space accessible in time with the needs of the residents. So far there is no solution on the market that contributes to utilise the vacant capacity in private garage facilities. Here there is a huge potential for urban, green mobility and covering future needs in a sustainable manner,” Ketil Høigaard says.
About Construct Venture:
With its focus on growth companies through Construct Venture, AF Gruppen and OBOS want to contribute to establish a smarter and more future-oriented supplier industry in building and construction that also gives the industry competitiveness. The partnership is industrially supported based on smart capital, where AF and OBOS contribute with industry expertise, processes and well-functioning systems, in addition to financial strength. The companies are making their projects available for testing and developing technology concepts on a large scale.
About OBOS Oppstart:
Through OBOS Oppstart, OBOS is investing in startups that have the potential to contribute to development and growth in the building, construction and real estate industries – with focus on the environment and sustainability, innovation and technology. OBOS partners with the companies at an early stage by using its own experience, expertise and capital. The goal of all investments is to develop good residential and urban environments that benefit OBOS members.