SpotHero Opens Detroit Office to Advance Parking Mobility Solutions

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Chicago-based SpotHero, a North American parking reservation service, has opened a Detroit location at the Techstars Mobility space at Ford Field. The company will also bring HeroConnect, an end-to-end parking mobility platform, to help maintain a network of off-street parking facilities and work closely with automotive partners to integrate parking into companion apps as an in-dash solution.

“In this new world of the connected car and autonomous vehicle, parking is going to be a critical component,” says Elan Mosbacher, SpotHero’s vice president of strategy and partnerships. “Detroit is North America’s automotive hub, and opening a new office location here allows us to strengthen relationships with our partners and build the ideal parking experience for the next generation of automobiles together.”

SpotHero’s Detroit office will focus on HeroConnect and strategic partnerships that enhance and optimize the driving and parking experience. By using API, SDK, and embeddable web widgets, SpotHero’s parking mobility platform enables automotive and transportation companies to offer parking reservations and transactional parking functionality seamlessly into their own platforms.

SpotHero offers parking at thoudsands of garages, lots, and valets in major cities across the U.S. and Canada and has secured $57.5 million in funding since its founding in 2011.

Three additional companies will also be setting up offices in Michigan as part of the Demo Days mobility event. This includes Derq, a Dubai-based artificial intelligence-based V2X software applications for connected and autonomous vehicles to eliminate road accidents and EcoG, a Munich-based company that provides a monetization engine of sustainable electric vehicle charging. SEEVA Technologies from Seattle also designs visibility systems for mobility and their technology cleans windshields, cameras, LIDAR, and other sensors to help cars see, and Colorado-based Vartega, which creates low-cost recycled carbon fiber for vehicle lightweighting to enable better battery technology, connectivity, and autonomy.

Techstars Mobility is a mentorship-driven accelerator program part of Techstars and is the first North American accelerator focused on the future of transportation and mobility. Headquartered in downtown Detroit but investing nationwide, Techstars Mobility has invested in 33 mobility startups since June 2015 and has partnered with Ford Motor Co., Verizon, Honda, next47, Bosch, InMotoion, AAA, Dana, Munich Re, and Michelin.

Over the past 28 months, the program has worked with 33 startup companies, which have a combined $45 million in funding and a collective value of $200 million.

“Techstars Mobility operates at the intersection of two of Detroit’s biggest strengths: its automotive dominance and its entrepreneurial resurgence,” says Ted Serbinski, managing director of Techsters Mobility. “We’re on a mission to connect the startup and automotive and mobility industries by breaking down silos and working across industries to build partnerships. We’re fueling the Detroit entrepreneurial ecosystem with startups from around the world.”