Parkwheels Solving Big, Bad & Unsexy Parking Problems of India Using Technology

As India strives to take its place on the world center stage, Indians have started going beyond needs to inspirational wants. One clear indication of this, is the increasing number of cars hitting the roads every day. The present infrastructure is very inadequate to serve the need for more and secure parking spaces. It was this gap between the increasing desire for safe and secure parking and the actual reality that had led us to introduce Parkwheels
Parking it self is big challenge for most of the cities in India as well across the globe, Indian cities are no exception but kind of challenge you face here are different:
Most of parking guys still give you paper slips
Parking are not safe
People can park any where they feel like
People are not use to pay for parking unlike US and Europe where parking is metered and quite expensive
Most of the parking is manged still no organised as industry
Most parking lots are not even marked properly
Today We are presenting the exclusive interview of Parkwheels which offers latest technology like RFID System integrated with Camera Based solutions for parking problems in India.
Lets see what the founders of the startup has to say about their venture in their own words.
 

1.What is the Name of Your Venture? Any specific reason for this name?
A. “Parkwheels” is the name of the venture. 

2.Who is your target Audience/clients?
A. For B2B – All corporate building, Malls, Apartments, gated community, Hospitals, open surface parking area, govt parking etc are our clients.

For B2C – Vehicle owners (car and bikes)

3.Where is your venture based (city, state, country) & What are your geographical target areas?
A. We are based in Gurgaon, India. Our geographical target areas are all top 10 metro cities.4.What problems does your venture resolve? What are your products or services?
A. We at parkwheels aims at solving big, bad and unsexy parking problems of India. For B2B (corporate and commercial places) we help reduce pilferage and excess labour involved in parking, for the government through smart city projects and for consumers, we give the convenience of e-receipt & knowing parking availability right from home through a mobile app!

We have two products (both the prouct have a common mobile app) – 

• RFID System – It includes RFID sensor deployed in parking area and RFID tags to be pasted on every vehicle.
• Camera Based solution – It includes a camera placed in a parking area to identify whether a slot is occupied or not.

5.Share the idea or story behind the venture. How did it came to an existence? What motivated you to start your own venture?
A. We founders always believe in solving the problem which we can see through our eyes and feel in day to day life. Thus, during our last job in Gurgaon, we have obsereved the problem of parking to a great extent. (So, there is nothing like one day we got caught up in a parking lot and our self-esteem said to solve the issue :P)

We wish to integrate technology in life of common people. A dream to make life simpler, faster and more enjoyable is the motivating factor which drives me ahead.

6.Who are your biggest competitors and how do you differentiate yourself from them?
A. We do not have any direct competition in India. There are many indirect competition like Pparke, getmyparking, parkingRhino etc.

We have 1 – specific streamline product (RFID system) which can fit in all the parking premise like corporate, malls, apartments, hospitals etc, unlike our competitors whose product are good only for specific places. All our indirect competitors are more focussed on Mobile app & software, where we provide a combinaton of hardware, software and mobile app with customization according to clients requirement.

7.How did you identify your co-founder? Tell us some thing about your co-founder/s
A. We are into technology domain and need a strong tech team to run the show. I was good in hardware/embedded and needed someone good in software. A person who can handle frontend, backend, mobile app etc all by himself. Thus, I met my co-founder (Sumit Jain) in our last organisation GreyOrange Robotics.8.How did you hired your first team members? What skills Do you want in your employees/team?
A. Just like any startup, first few core members define a company. We needed people who have a DNA of startup and a zeal to change things on the fly. Thus, we looked out for people who had this quality. 9.What expansion plans are you looking for the next 2 years, next 5 years?
A. For next 2 years, we want to focus on top 10 metro cities with Mumbai, Bangalore & Delhi/NCR being our prime target. Next, we want to go overseas to places like Asia and gulf countries where our product will go a long way.

10.Where do you want to see yourself in next 10 years?

A. 10 years is a long time, we will be the market leaders in India in next 5 years. 🙂
11.What are your goals over the next 1, 3, 6 and 12 months?
A. We already have more than 9 pending projects in our hand, so for next 3 months, we will be busy implementing them. Once done, next 6-12 month target is to setup our base in Mumbai and Bangalore as well. 
12.Have you raised any funding? Or have any plans for the funding?
A. We have already raised a crore till date. 
13.What were the problems you faced during the starting days and how did you resolve them?
A. The main hurdle and the most challenging part in our journey is to get the initial clients. As we founder don’t have a background related to real estate, so it was extremely difficult to reach to the decision maker of any corporate, malls etc and convince them to buy even if we showed them good ROI. Well, the bitter truth about B2B sales which got to know is that the first few sales comes through your network.

We resolved it by bringing in strategic investment from people who have connects in real estate and can help us get connected to right people.  
14.What was the most challenging part of your journey till now? How did you overcome those challenges?
A. Same answer as above.

15.Are you married, single or in a relationship?

A. I recently got married on 6 Feb, 2018, while sumit is still single. 
16.What are your hobbies? What do you do in your non-work time?
A. Me and my co-founder go out and explore new food joints in our non-work time.
17.Whats your favorite food & holiday destination?
A. I am a big time foodie. My all-time favorite is Butter Chicken with Garlic Naan. 

My favourite holiday destination is Udaipur (City of Lakes). 

18.Whom do you consider your idol or biggest motivator?
A. Travis Kalanick is my idol and biggest motivator. Building a company to that scale is simply remarkable. 

19.What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
A. Entrepreneurs loves to take risk and get out of their comfort zone in order to build something beautiful. Hardly anyone can see their vision which they dream of. People call them crazy, we call them entrepreneur. Working for someone else is nothing but playing safe, no risks thus no ups and down.  

20.If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
A. Absolutely Not. 21.How has being an entrepreneur affected your family & Social life?
A. Being an entrepreneur has its own side effects. U don’t get to party, enjoy major festivals or attend your close friend’s marriages. For ex – all my close friends got married and I didn’t have the privilege to attend their marriages, this makes me feel sad. Moreover, it’s been 2 years since we last went home on Diwali as well. Fortunately, we both have families who have stick by our side in thick and thin.

22.Anything, you would like to say to our readers or upcoming entrepreneurs?
A. If you really want to be an entrepreneur, just go for it. Don’t wait or think, start now and don’t give up until your last breath. 23.Tell us something about your education & family background.
A. I am an electronics engineer and did my masters in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Southampton, UK. 

My Father works as Deputy Director General of ICAR (Indian Council of Agriculture Research). 

My mother runs a busy home. 

My sister (Heena), after completing her PhD from IIT Jodhpur is now working in USA.
24.What is your USP which makes it unique & different from other start-ups in similar domains.
A. Please refer answer 6.
25. What do you think is the biggest threat to the success of small businesses & Start-ups today?
A. I feel it is the tax system. It can be made more easy for small businesses. 
26. Do you consider yourself successful and by what means do you measure success?

A. Not yet. 

For me, the only measure of success is when my Father will say to me “I am proud of you my son”. 
27.Please share complete name, address, phone number, email id & website of Your Business & Contact Person

A. Name – Parkwheels, 

Address – SCO-16, 1 floor, Saraswati Vihar, Gurgaon, 

Website – www.parkwheels.co.in.

Contact Person – Dhananjay Rathore (Co-founder)

email – [email protected]