New technology from startup ventures is transforming the sports industry. The mission of this series will be to introduce startup companies in the sports technology space to a broader audience and allow Founders of promising new ventures to tell their story. Feel free to contact us if you know of a startup that should be considered for this series.
Company: Citifyd
CEO: Sohrab Vossoughi
Headquarters: Portland, Oregon
1. What is your elevator pitch?
Citifyd is a B2B event based parking platform that seamlessly integrates three easy-to-use product offerings for attendees, parking providers, and organizations. Citifyd’s web and mobile platform addresses the pain-points associated with attending events for commuters and event organizers and is the only real-time, end-to-end enterprise software solution specifically for event parking.
2. Problem & Solution
Publically available parking spaces in most city centers, are scarce, especially during sports and entertainment events. The only way to ensure a convenient spot is to arrive at the venue hours early and claim a space in a nearby garage.
Citifyd saw an opportunity in this frustrating situation: get parking garages to challenge their assumption that spaces must be sold on-site and create a better, more efficient experience for all. The result was Citifyd: a parking service that enables both venue-owned and surrounding garages and lots to sell their coveted spaces at any moment in advance of events. It’s all about convenience and peace of mind: no circling, no meters, no worries.
3. Market – your target market and the overall market
The parking market is a massive industry valued at $100 billion worldwide, and $30 billion domestically. With its proven partnerships and user successes already established within the Portland market, Citifyd is now focused on growing its business nationwide by partnering with other enterprise level venues and parking management companies to provide a more efficient parking framework for all.
4. Business Model – how do you make money?
The platform takes a convenience fee of 10% from each parking transaction, while charging a monthly fee to both the parking operators for the inventory management system, and the event organizer for the data feed.
5. Management Team – with titles
Sohrab Vossoughi, Founder and CEO of Citifyd
Aria Vossoughi, Co-founder, President & CFO
6. What else do you want the audience to know about your venture?
Citifyd was retained by NBA team, the Portland Trail Blazers as one of its key digital partners to enhance the experience of Blazers fans attending home games. Following a close collaboration to develop a tech forward parking service for game attendees, Citifyd’s parking solution is now available to Trail Blazers ticket holders. Citifyd also works with MLS champions, the Portland Timbers to provide game day parking for fans with spaces available within walking distance from the team’s Providence Park venue.
Citifyd is part of Ziba Labs, the incubator program within the renowned Ziba Design in Portland, Oregon. A significant advantage for Citifyd being incubated within Ziba is the firm’s expertise and understanding of the complexities of design to be both intentional and impactful in solving problems and executing successful innovation to market.
Bonus Question: If you were to invite any CEO to dinner who would it be and why?
Richard Branson. Like Steve Jobs, he is a visionary that takes risks and has a relentless focus on his target customer experience. He creates love between his companies/brands and their target consumers.