Peer-to-peer parking pioneer JustPark has raised £3.7m in the UK’s largest ever equity crowdfunding round.
The company, which matches spare parking spaces with people who need to park, tripled its £1m target in the 34-day campaign and attracted some 2,900 investors.
The smallest amount handed over on the Crowdcube crowdfunding platform was £10, while some gave up to £500,000, with around a third of pledges coming from JustPark users. Paying top whack got the lucky investor a 2.1% stake in the business, while chucking in a tenner gets you 0.00004%.
These investors join BMW i Ventures, who helped develop an in-car app for JustPark users last year, and Index Ventures as stakeholders in the London-based company. JustPark, founded back in 2006, will use the cash to grow its userbase and start developing even easier ways to help people with parking. Anthony Eskinazi, JustPark founder, told Tech City News:
“We felt strongly that equity crowdfunding was the ideal way to continue on our growth course in the same collaborative spirit that underpins the entire business. We’ve been delighted with the campaign’s success and can’t wait to work together with our most passionate users to take our business to the next level.
“The growing enthusiasm for the sharing economy in the UK has been incredibly exciting to see. People who once would have hesitated to rent a room with Airbnb or share their driveway through JustPark are now embracing the idea as a fuss-free and fun way to make the most of their assets.”
St Pancras Parish Church on Euston Road has made nearly £70,000 using JustPark to rent its parking spaces to people travelling from Euston and King’s Cross station. Church warden Dorothea Hackman said:
“Before we had thought of renting out the parking spaces, they were just lying unused. It was a resource we hadn’t thought of using for the benefit of the church at all. We’re using the parking money to repair the church portico roof and it’s wonderful to have an income stream like this that we can rely on to contribute towards the project. It’s been truly excellent for us.”
The crowdfund closed after reaching the maximum limit allowed for SMEs under EU regulation. Crowdcube’s previous record deal was the £2m raised by Mexican restaurant Chilango.