Get My Parking aims to assist in government's Smart Cities initiative

At the recently held India Gadgetz Expo, one of the panel discussions was over smart cities. The discussion varied from definition of smart cities to how startups could make this possible. One such startup that is helping assist with the government initiative of smart cities is Get My Parking (Android, iOS).This Delhi-based startup by IIT Madras and FMS Delhi alumni brings a simple solution to the tricky parking woes, by offering a parking space even before you reach your destination. The startup did some fine work at the overcrowded Kumbh Mela, and also received appreciation from PM Modi.We had a quick chat with Chirag Jain, CEO and founder of Get My Parking at IGE 2016, who described Get My Parking as a way to smartly get a spot for parking, even before you get to a place. During the discussion, he spoke about how unorganised parking leads to cars slowing down to search for a spot, and eventually slowing down the traffic. "Just imagine when hundreds of cars are doing that at the same time," he pointed out.He believes that parking is an essential part of the government's vision of smart cities. "We are getting a lot of traction from various municipal corporations. We have started a pilot project in Jaipur," he said.The startup recently raised 2.5 million from Chennai Angels, and are looking to close a second round soon. Jain tells us that parking is a major problem not only in India but also overseas, and they've begun seeing some traction from outside India too. Talking about security, he said, "Security is of prime concern as we work with a lot of consumer data. The security is taken care of accordance to utmost privacy for our consumers."Here's the complete interview