Despite a year of unprecedented hardship, we’re very proud to announce the closing of our £5 million investment from Pelican Capital. This funding will kickstart the transition into our next phase of growth. As the UK’s leading on-demand parking platform and provider of intelligent parking solutions, we're ready for the new opportunities and improvements to our service for our customers.
The investment comes from Pelican Capital, a UK based private equity firm that invests up to £15 million in profitable businesses. The investments are funded by family offices looking to deploy capital into individual companies as an alternative to investing through a traditional fund. They see the parking technology space as a highly attractive part of the mobility landscape with compelling growth characteristics and an important part to play in the future of transport.
YPS Chief Executive, Harrison Woods, highlighted that not only will the funding enable us to scale our on-demand and subscription parking marketplace, invest in our technology platforms, and increase our ability to attract new commercial partners, but Pelican Capital will also bring varied experience with strong expertise in driving sustainable growth. With support from Pelican Capital, we will be looking to work with more real estate owners in optimising their empty space and helping them adapt to an increasingly digital future in parking.
We specialise in digitalising car parks and enabling revenue generation from an underutilised space, as well as streamlining the parking experience through our proprietary technology and live data analytics. In 2020, we reached 170th place in the FT1000 annual list of Europe’s fastest-growing companies. We also featured in The Sunday Times Tech Track 100 as one of Britain’s fastest-growing private technology companies.
We intend to use the funding to make a number of new hires over the next 12 months. These roles will help to build out the technology, marketing and sales teams in our London office, and in a new office in York. The investment in sales and marketing will help us in particular to target new commercial customers, as well as focus on expanding our service to our current clients.
This is particularly pertinent in the current climate where Covid-19 has led to shifts in the behaviour of both drivers and owners. The improvements in our technology will help drivers and owners to adapt to these changes, with our research showing that employees returning to work are far more likely to drive than to take public transport. With many of our Commercial Space Owners being hit hard by declining footfall and a shift to online shopping and commerce, they’re keen to re-assess ways in which they can optimise their parking estates. We are ideally situated to support this.
Chris Woods, Chief Finance Officer at YPS said "I couldn't be more excited by the opportunity we have following the successful fundraise. It is all the more exciting to have raised such an amount in some of the most trying times the industry has ever seen and truly reflects the confidence management and our investors have in the YPS solution and its potential to disrupt a significant market. The speed at which YPS changes and innovates is inspiring and will only help us to meet and exceed our plans of being the next big market disruptor."
Future plans include informing operators of the optimum locations and models for EV charging points, an area that we have already branched into and are set to expand on. We are also in the process of exploring opportunities within last-mile delivery, dark kitchens, and micro-mobility spaces which will be sure to diversify and develop the business.
It's sure to be an exciting and fast-paced few months ahead, but that’s all part of the journey when you’re changing the way the world parks.