Two L.A.-based valet parking apps are joining forces today, with news that the quickly growing app maker CurbStand is acquiring its close competitor Curby, whose technology will now be integrated into a future product release. While both teams had built apps that let consumers request their car and pay their valet through their smartphone, Curby’s appeal was in the enterprise side of its business. The company had built a hardware and software platform for valet operators that allowed businesses to monitor cars and staff in real-time, view historical data, and mine customer demographics.
The deal, a combination of cash and stock, was for an undisclosed sum.
Curby’s founders, CEO Colby Goff and CTO and co-founder Niels Jonker, previously held leadership roles at Boingo Wireless prior to starting their valet tech company, and will now join CurbStand’s board. Goff will serve as a board advisor, and Jonker will serve on the board.
While CurbStand had been partnering with valet stand operators, the addition of Curby’s platform will now allow the company to expand into new categories, it says, including hotels healthcare institutions and municipalities.
Currently, the CurbStand app works at hundreds of stands in L.A., Miami, Dallas, Austin, Houston, Ft. Lauderdale, Boston and Denver.
The network today includes over 400 stands, and is continuing to grow by around 5 to 10 locations per week, both in its current markets and through expansions to new cities.
The company, which is fresh off a $3 million funding round in September, recently hired a new CFO and CTO to help lead CurbStand through its growth. CurbStand also rolled out an upgraded consumer app with an on-demand “request a car” feature, as well as launched a companion valet app that allows the attendants to communicate directly with customers, while also gathering data on parking operations.