ZoomThru
ZoomThru has designed to transform raw parking data into a digital asset for national consumption by advertisers and parking apps.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
$12.5k | Seed | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
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ZoomThru was established in New York City in 2016 by co-founders Lexi Sprague and Richard Malone. The pair met at Draper University, a Silicon Valley accelerator program for entrepreneurs. Their journey continued at StartCo's Upstart accelerator for women-led companies, where they were recruited after pitching at Draper Demo Day. Although the company showed early promise and secured an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Innova Memphis on August 11, 2016, it is now considered a deadpooled company.
The company operated as a network-based data visualization platform for the parking industry. Its core technology, the ZoomThru Database, was designed to aggregate raw data from various sources, including garage equipment, mobile applications, connected cars, and traffic systems. This data was then processed into a standardized "digital asset" for the parking sector. The platform aimed to provide parking garage operators with a data analytics dashboard to help them customize, analyze, and act on the information collected in their facilities. For consumers, the service intended to simplify parking by allowing them to tie their payment method directly to their vehicle's license plate.
ZoomThru's business model focused on creating a network effect, where the value of the aggregated data would increase as more garage operators joined the platform. The company planned to generate revenue by distributing the digital assets to a wide range of endpoints, such as smart cities, mobile app partners, and connected car toolkits. Another revenue stream was to come from allowing local and national advertisers to connect with parkers through this network. The company's initial strategy involved forming direct partnerships with garage operators and collaborating with open-source smart city projects. A significant pivot occurred during its time in the accelerator; the original concept was focused on processing payments for fast-food drive-thrus, but market research led them to shift their license-plate recognition technology to the parking garage industry.
Keywords: ZoomThru, Lexi Sprague, Richard Malone, parking data, smart parking, data visualization, parking analytics, license plate recognition, smart city technology, parking management, connected car data, parking network, Innova Memphis, Draper University, StartCo, deadpooled