The valet experience is supposed to be one of convenience and comfort. However, often people find themselves with long curbside waits as they fumble for their ticket and have their car pulled around.
It’s an experience founder Marcus Wells is familiar with, and one he is looking to solve with his startup MultiPark Valet, a valet management platform helping to streamline the process. And with the company’s app now in beta testing, he and his fellow co-founders are gearing up for a planned mid-February launch.
“The main thing is to provide some convenience to the marketplace,” Wells told NTX Inno. “A lot of people are big on the rideshares right now… because it's convenient. So we are trying to provide the same convenience if you have to drive your vehicle. We don’t want you stressing about finding parking… we’re trying to have the same impact but just on the valet side of things.”
Wells describes MultiPark as the “middle man,” connecting drivers to parking facilities on the platform. Vendors like restaurants and event spaces list their valet access on the platform, allowing drivers to see options. From there, drivers can check cost options and schedule parking times. And when you’re ready to leave, you can send a message to the parking attendant and pay via the app.
MultiPark is available on the Google and iOS stores to make payments via Google and Apple pay. The company is currently looking for vendors and users to beta test the technology. As it does, it plans to make updates ahead of the launch.
“The future of it is trying to learn the market and get acquainted with parking facilities and parking management companies, and seeing what benefit we can bring to them, ensuring those customers continue to park with them,” Wells said.
While the three-person team is looking to launch the bootstrapped company in the second week of February, Wells has been working on MultiPark since around 2017. After waiting almost outside, the idea came to him in Atlanta for his car to be pulled around. After that, he got to work, filing a patent (which is now pending) and bringing on two co-founders last year to help build the tech.
“I saw there was a huge market for parking management, but it really didn’t have any software to have a parking attendant have your car ready by the time you were done with your event and trying to get to the next event,” Wells said.
Wells said he’s planning the company’s launch timing as vaccines roll out, which he hopes will bring more business back to the types of businesses where valet services are typically found. He added that he thinks the pandemic may drive more people to use valet to avoid busy parking stations.
“We just wanted to make sure it was a strategic time actually to do the launch,” Wells said. “A lot of companies like restaurants… are still experiencing COVID, so we didn’t want to launch and still have to try to pivot to bring the application out onto the market.”
As MultiPark grows, Wells is planning to focus on the North Texas area before expanding the apps services beyond. In addition to adding individual businesses to its platform, Wells is also looking at partnering with the valet service companies that many businesses use and parking facility operators.
“Valet, in general, is a niche market. It’s one of those things that’s very selective,” Wells said. “Hopefully, we can get everyone using valet services because, in the past, the traditional way valet services are almost like a treat, almost like ice cream. Most of the time, people will say, ‘I’m not paying extra money for someone to park my vehicle if I can find parking on my own,’ so with this with MultiPark, we are offering the services to everybody and letting everybody know that anyone can use valet services.”
