Easy parking, a parking app developed by Beijing TingJianDan Information Technology Co, on Wednesday secured B-round funding from several leading domestic investors including Fosun Group and Zhong Min Investment Group.
Other investors include Frees Fund and the domestic furniture mall chain Red Star Macalline.
TingJianDan didn't disclose the specific amount it raised, but it said that the investment amounted to "hundreds of millions of yuan," according to a statement it sent to the Global Times on Wednesday.
Liu Wenchao, CEO of TingJianDan, said at a press conference on Wednesday that as urbanization has progressed in China, urban plans in many cities haven't given enough attention to parking needs, and the problem of insufficient parking space cannot be changed in the short term.
"The Easy parking app was invented to help solve the problem. It will connect fragmented parking resources via the Internet and increase the efficiency of parking space allocation to car owners," Liu said.
According to the company's statement, since the app's launch in May 2015, it has provided services for 7.5 million vehicles. Its business covers thousands of parking lots in China, it said.
Fosun Chairman Guo Guangchang said at the press conference that demand for parking spaces is inelastic among Chinese drivers and what TingJianDan has done "has some depth."
Guo said that Fosun dislikes start-ups that burn money, or businesses that are not useful to people's lives.
He also noted that Fosun will support TingJianDan's development by bringing "resources" to the company.
Che Jianxin, CEO of Red Star Macalline, said that Macalline's resources of 300,000 parking spaces in Red Star Macalline shopping malls will be provided to TingJianDan to develop its business.
