Equity stake taken in UK parking startup AppyParking

Sumitomo Corporation (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President and Chief Executive Officer: Masayuki Hyodo) and Sumitomo Corporation Europe Limited (Head Office: London, U.K.; President and CEO: Takashi Yamana) (below, collectively referred to as the “Sumitomo Corporation Group”) have acquired an equity stake in Yellow Line Parking Limited. (Head Office: United Kingdom; CEO: Dan Hubert; below, “AppyParking”), a UK digital parking platformer. This investment into a startup company utilises the SCEU R&D investment scheme (see Note1).

Urban citizens throughout the world are facing parking problems with a void of parking maps, complicated parking regulations, inconvenient payment transactions as well as inefficient parking control and road administration. In addition, 3D digital road data is increasingly required for a connected autonomous vehicles society.

AppyParking is a startup company in the digital parking sector that was founded in 2013. It provides a comprehensive parking eco-system which digitalizes parking regulation, parking utilization, parking payment process and road administration (below, collectively referred to as the “digital parking platform”) for municipalities, parking operators and mobility service players. Through a LiDAR (see Note2) mapping, AppyParking can create an urban digital twin (see Note3) including all kerbside information digitalized by its own deep-learning technology, which can be indispensable data hubs for next generation parking experience in a connected autonomous vehicles society. In addition, with IoT sensors on parking spaces, it can optimise parking utilization by parking bays and realize frictionless payment without any conventional parking meters or even mobile phones. Furthermore, its self-developed software service to monitor and control parking regulation and utilization allows municipalities and parking operators to streamline road administration and enhance parking operation. AppyParking has already started to provide its service in several cities in the UK and aims to penetrate its digital parking platform in urban cities in Europe and throughout the world.

The Sumitomo Corporation Group already conducts Smart City projects in Japan and Asia as well as operates parking operation in Nordic countries. By collaborating with AppyParking, we expect to enhance the sophistication of these existing businesses. We also believe that we will be able to help accelerate the growth of AppyParking’s business.

Going forward, we intend to continue identifying changes in the needs of society and contributing to the development of industry across the globe by investing in companies with innovative technology.

(Note 1)：In January 2018, Sumitomo Corporation Europe Limited introduced a “R&D Investment Support System” to enable flexible investment in start-up companies, which have been drivers of innovation (innovative technologies, services or business models) in Europe.
(Note 2)：LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is a surveying method that measures distance to a target by illuminating the target with pulsed laser light and measuring the reflected pulses with a sensor. 
(Note 3)：Digital-twin is a digital replica of a living or non-living physical entity through IoT technology.

■Material issues for Sumitomo Corporation
The Sumitomo Corporation Group has defined the “Six Material Issues to Achieve Sustainable Growth with Society” as an important factor in developing business strategies and in the decision-making process for individual businesses. Going forward, we will pursue sustainable growth by resolving these issues through our business activities. This business should prove especially beneficial in “Achieving Harmony with the Global Environment,” “Contributing to the Development of Local Communities and Industries,” “Establishing a Foundation for Comfortable and Enriching Lifestyles,” and “Providing Diverse ‘Accessibility.’”