Parking Insider is a smart app with a mobile wallet expressly dedicated to enabling its users to quickly and seamlessly pay for parking spots by the minute.
The app also invites users to earn free minutes of parking by snapping pictures of free parking spaces, photos that it will use to create a heat map that enables others users to find open parking spots.
It’s the second go at this idea by two of Parking Insider’s three creators. Shruti Kuber and Advait Kumar are both getting their master’s degrees in embedded systems at the Technical University of Berlin and met at an earlier hackathon after realizing both want to focus their careers right now around mobility. While they’d zoomed in on making life easier for pedestrians, with the help of another computer scientist, Abdul Rehman Liaqat, the two decided to pour their efforts into parking.
Parking Insider is limited to Berlin right now. It’s also limited currently to working with the APIs of Deutsche Bank and Daimler, two sponsors of the hackathon. In short, to use the app, you’d need to be a Deutsche banking client, which would enable you to set up a prepaid account that automatically renews every month and allows you to track your payment history. You’d also need to drive a Mercedes-Benz, Smart car, or other Daimler vehicle. But Kuber says the team has every intention of seeking out partnerships with other banks and car companies.
None seems to be much of a deterrent to the team. “We do see expanding into other brands and cities,” say Kuber. “We’re taking this seriously.”
