Dish Network is deepening its connection to the IoT and wireless worlds with the acquisition of Parkifi, a Denver-based startup that makes and sells patent-pending, connected single-space parking sensors that work in tandem with a cloud-based analytics platform.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but Parkifi will continue to make and sell that platform around the country and retain the Parkifi brand. Tied to the deal, Parkifi co-founder, Ryan Sullivan, will lead a new team at Dish to sell, support and develop new Parkifi-branded products and services.
Parkifi’s sensor-gateway platform can be installed in individual parking spaces in surface lots, garages or on the street. The gateways aggregate sensor data that is sent to its cloud-based analytics system. The platform helps parking operators more efficiently manage inventory, predict occupancy, and increase revenues by directing drivers to available spaces, Dish said.
Parkifi’s customers include the University of California, Berkeley, which is using the vendor’s system for an on-campus parking garage. Per its website, Parkifi is operating in more than 70 locations in six markets.
Founded in 2014, Parkifi has raised about $13.9 million, according to The Denver Post.
The acquisition comes almost a year after Dish announced it was building out a national narrowband IoT network that’s slated to be completed in March 2020.
“Parkifi brings to DISH practical deployment and real-world experience connecting low-powered sensors with gateways to the cloud,” Tom Cullen, Dish’s executive vice president of corporate development, said in a statement. “Parkifi is helping solve the parking hassle affecting millions of Americans, but that connectivity model extends to utility monitoring, street lights and other applications of a connected community. We’ll leverage Parkifi’s expertise to test and learn as we deploy our own network.”
