Deal focus: AIpark keeps an eye on the streets

On-street parking is a perennial headache for city authorities in China. Misbehavior is widespread: cars occupying spaces for entire days despite two-hour usage limits; non-payment of parking fees; leaving vehicles in any available space – often blocking the road – when official berths are occupied. Penalties and police warnings appear to have limited impact.

AIpark has a solution. The Beijing-based start-up has developed artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled car parking and toll management technology that relies on cameras in elevated positions rather than the traditional street-level meters. The system automatically detects when a car enters the berth; calculates an hourly parking fee that increases with length of use; and informs the driver and lot manager of the amount due on exit. Payments are managed via app.

Jun Yan, founder of AIpark, tells AVCJ that about 15,000 camera sets are already in use across 12 cities, monitoring 100,000 street parking spaces. Each set can cover between one and 12 berths, depending on the street conditions. In Beijing and Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital of Hebei, AIpark has a 100% coverage rate of on-street parking spaces. It will get to this level in Guangzhou next year.

Yan believes that there is huge scope for growth: “In Beijing, more than 100,000 new street parking spaces are planned. We estimate that in the 100 largest cities in China there are about five million street parking spaces.”

AIpark has launched two supplementary service lines. The first is an illegal parking management system. Cameras are installed in places where parking is forbidden, and vehicle license plate information and total parking hours are passed on to police. The company also offers a one-stop parking and charging service for electric vehicles.

A Series C round of RMB300 million ($42 million), led by Gaorong Capital, recently closed. This follows Series A and B rounds in 2017 and 2018 – led by US-China Green Fund and Nio Capital, respectively – and a Series B extension from CICC Capital last year. This will go towards expanding existing services. Beyond that, AIpark is keen to leverage its abundance of data.

“What is the value of this data? It’s the relationship between license plates, car models, drivers, and scenarios,” Yan explains. It could be used by carmakers and maintenance service providers to target customers, by banks offering value-added services such as discounted parking with their credit cards, and by insurers promoting coverage deals.

AIpark expects revenue to reach RMB600-700 million this year, up from RMB300-400 million in 2019. The gross value of contracted equipment sales is tipped to rise from RMB800 million to RMB1 billion. The average bill for parking lot owners buying equipment is RMB10-20 million. The company also deals with consumers directly as a third-party payments manager, collecting RMB15-20 per vehicle.

Yan maintains that accuracy – in identification and billing – is the lynchpin of his business. To this end, AIpark develops all its software in-house and customizes standard cameras to perform AI functions. “This is different from the AI-enabled security business, where you catch some fugitives at a concert but no one knows how many might be there,” he says. “If we collect less money for the owners, they won’t use us; if we increase fees too much, the drivers won’t pay.”

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Technology
• Expansion
• China
• TMT
• Gaorong Capital
• automobiles