Last updated: June 6, 2024
In 2020, the German Digital Prize “The Spark” will be awarded for the fifth time. Initiated by the Handelsblatt and the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, the award recognizes startups in German-speaking Europe that enrich the economy with innovative concepts. This year’s theme is “Smart Mobility.” Young companies with promising mobility solutions had until July 5 to apply for the award. The most important requirement: The solution had to be market-ready. Along with nine other companies, ParkHere was selected as a finalist. The winners (first, second, and third place) will be chosen from among these finalists by fall, in part through online voting.
The Path to the Prize: Screening, Voting, Pitch
As in previous years, applicants go through a multi-stage selection process. The first two stages—pre-screening and selection of the top ten—have already been completed. After theParkHere concept was evaluatedfor innovation, scalability, and customer value, subject matter experts, along with Handelsblatt editors and a McKinsey representative, took a closer look at it. ParkHere was then selected as a finalist. The next stage is an >online voting, which has already begun. Prior to this, all finalists were asked to create a pitch video for the voting. The final selection stage will be a meeting scheduled for September 22. At this meeting, the finalists will personally present their respective concepts to The Spark jury. Each jury member will then create a ranking of the finalists. The final rankings will be determined based on the collected rankings. The announcement of the winners and the awards ceremony will take place on November 12 in Berlin.
ParkHere – From a Mobility Startup to a Leader in Smart Parking Innovation
ParkHere, launched in 2015 by its three founders, is now recognized as a leader in innovation in the field of parking management. What began as an idea to digitally monitor parking areas using sensor technology to improve their utilization has evolved into a broad range of comprehensive solutions for businesses and property managers. At the heart of the ParkHere concept is the provision of app-controlled software solutions—including hardware components—that enable highly efficient management of parking spaces. Thanks to various partnerships, including those with charging network operators, ParkHere is now also well-positioned in the field of electric mobility solutions for parking facility operators. Allocating and renting parking spaces to employees and external users, operating charging stations, and billing for parking and charging—ParkHere makes all of this possible for its customers. All it takes is a single app. By developing and implementing intelligent digital solutions—both hardware and software—we aim to improve, digitize, and optimize mobility in corporate and commercial real estate. We achieve this through smart technologies for sustainable mobility.
Figure 1: Felix Harteneck, CEO of ParkHere GmbH
“The parking space crisis and the excessive traffic caused by people searching for parking spots are among the most serious mobility problems in metropolitan areas,” says ParkHere Managing Director Felix Harteneck. “By developing and implementing smart digital solutions to improve parking management, we are curbing these problems. After all, sustainable mobility isn’t just about restrictive traffic management and zero-emission powertrains . It also manifests itself in smart concepts for parking private vehicles. We’re proud that our concepts have been recognized to such a high degree by the organizers of the German Digital Prize, and we look forward to the announcement of the winners.”
Cast your vote!
Do you also think that ParkHere deserves the title for its mobility solutions? Then cast your vote! If you click on this link , you’ll be taken directly to the online voting page for this year’s “The Spark” awards. You can then cast your vote for ParkHere and help boost our chances of securing one of the top spots when the winners are announced. If you’d like to learn more about the digital award and the evaluation criteria first, click here.
