AppyParking (Appyway)

A London parking-data company, now part of Appyway, that digitises kerbside parking rules and payments for drivers, councils and connected vehicles.

About AppyParking (Appyway)

AppyParking is a London technology company that started as a parking app and became a provider of parking data. It collects information on where you can park, what the rules are and how to pay, and presents it clearly to drivers. It also makes that data available to councils and to the makers of connected and driverless vehicles that need to understand the kerbside.

The idea came from founder and chief executive Dan Hubert, who could not find a parking space near the Royal Albert Hall. He built a map of London's parking by collecting information from council websites and reading hand-drawn maps, and digitised more than 1,800 parking zones. A parking-payment trial ran with the borough of Westminster.

Its stated mission, in a magazine interview, was: "It's our mission to make parking truly forgettable". Its longer goal was automated payments and high-definition kerbside navigation for connected and driverless vehicles. Hubert described the working style as keeping your head down and cracking on, and the interview said the company was bootstrapped in its first year, with the founder lodging with a friend to save money.

AppyParking is based in London. The interview, from around 2017, said the team had 18 people and planned to grow to 80, so the company's size has probably changed. Awards listed in the interview include the European Startup Prize for Mobility and Best British Mobile Startup from KPMG. A later job board lists the company under the name Appyway, though we did not read those pages in full.

A business like this employs software and data engineers, map and data analysts, product designers, and people who work with councils and fleets. If you like maps, apps, cities or data, it is a good example of how a small team can fix an everyday problem, The company's early story is a good example of persistence: its founder built the first map by hand from council websites, then grew the idea into a business that won European and British start-up awards. Each of those steps relied on different skills, from data checking and design to talking to councils and drivers, and that variety is typical of a small technology team. and why accurate road and kerb data matters for the future of transport.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Shows parking rules and lets drivers pay.', 'title': 'Parking information and payment app'}
• {'desc': 'Digitised parking zones for councils and mobility companies.', 'title': 'Kerbside data'}
• {'desc': 'Aims for automated payments and kerbside navigation for driverless cars.', 'title': 'Connected vehicle services'}

Key facts

• Founded by Dan Hubert; London-based
• Digitised more than 1,800 London parking zones (2017 interview)
• Westminster parking-payment trial
• Now listed under the name Appyway on job boards

Website: appyway.com