Flash, a parking solutions provider, announced this week that it has raised $250 million in strategic investment led by Vista Equity Partners.
The Austin-based company, founded in 2011, has created a smart parking system that lets real estate owners, parking operators and cities solve problems of congestion and lack of visibility into parking supply and demand.
To date, the company has raised $314.3 million in total funding, according to Crunchbase.
Other investors in the deal include L. Catterton, other prior investors and management.
The company plans to use the funds raised to expand its Flash mobility operating system and payments platform, extend digital services, and hire more than 200 employees this year.
Flash also plans to focus on mobility solutions including electric vehicle charging stations, autonomous vehicle staging, and mobility-as-a-service.
“When FLASH was founded, the parking industry was poised for transformation and digital mobility platforms were nascent,” Dan Sharplin, Chairman and CEO of FLASH, said in a statement. “We are rapidly future-proofing urban mobility infrastructure by providing an agile, cloud-based, mobile-first platform for the myriad opportunities facing cities, citizens, asset owners, utilities, and parking operators. We are thrilled to welcome Vista as an investor and partner whose expertise and experience will ensure we continue innovating to advance the connected mobility experience.”
Flash has more than 10,000 customer locations nationwide and in Canada. It processes more than 11 million parkers per month and more than $1 billion in annual transactions.
“FLASH has an incredible opportunity to continue its disruption of a massive industry,” Marc Teillon, Co-Head of Vista’s Foundation Fund and Senior Managing Director, said in a news release. “We are excited to partner with Dan and the entire FLASH team as they innovate to advance the connected mobility experience.”
