Cactus Partners leads USD 1.2 million round in ParkMate

Mumbai, 28 November 2024: Cactus Partners (CPL), an early growth-stage venture fund, today announced the closure of a $1.2 million investment round in ParkMate Smart Parking Solutions Pvt Ltd (“ParkMate”). Existing investors Venture Catalysts and the Marwah Group Family Office also participated in the round.

Aiming to digitize India’s unorganized car parking sector, ParkMate offers smart parking solutions to shopping malls, office complexes, and Hotels in the corporate segment and to parking contractors for government parking spaces.

ParkMate’s 100% indigenously developed ‘Trident’ parking system further improves FASTag-technology for parking, and its ‘Kavach’ system – an AI-driven, sticker-less, paperless solution – redefines safety and access control. The company’s exclusive DaSH (Drop & Shop) service guarantees parking within 2 minutes for car owners at shopping malls, arcades and business complexes. Designed and developed by ex-armed forces officers and parking industry experts, ParkMate’s systems are a formidable indigenous alternative to Chinese and European solutions. The company has won over clients such as DLF, Phoenix Mills, Fun Republic, the UP and Telangana Governments. Smart cities are another sizeable market for ParkMate.

ParkMate will utilize the capital infusion to accelerate its growth trajectory. The company will invest in its team to win business, streamline its operations and continue to innovate new solutions.

This marks the 8th investment made by Cactus Partners. The fund, which started investing in January 2021, has made investments in companies such as Lohum Cleantech, Kapture CX, Vitraya Technologies, AMPM Fashions, Auric, Indigrid Technology and Rubix Data Sciences (exited).

Amit Sharma, General Partner at Cactus Partners, commented on the transaction, saying, “We are excited to invest in ParkMate as parking is becoming a growing pain point, not only in metros but in smaller towns as well. ParkMate has developed innovative and pragmatic solutions to solve this problem. What we particularly liked is the company’s economic discipline to build the business sensibly. We believe it is the right time to accelerate as the PMF is visible and there is significant market opportunity. We are proud to back the company originating from a Tier 2 city of Moradabad and building a high-potential pan-India business. CPL, as per our stated strategy, will support the company with all our strategic resources in addition to the capital infusion.”

Speaking about the fundraiser, Dhananjaya Bharadwaj, Co-Founder of ParkMate, said, “We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Cactus Partners into the ParkMate team! Their rich experience and alignment with our vision will be game-changing. We’re on a mission to solve the everyday parking dilemma, and the Cactus team was impressed by our vision of offering guaranteed parking within just 2 minutes, powered by cutting-edge, homegrown technology. With this investment, we’ll turbocharge our efforts, enhancing our tech game, expanding our reach, and creating a parking experience that feels almost magical for car owners. Our laser-focus on delivering exceptional customer satisfaction will be supercharged by this partnership, propelling us to new heights in our quest for parking perfection!”.