Metropolis Technologies

In October, we announced our $1.8 billion Series C financing and take-private of SP+ (SP Plus). Today, I couldn’t be prouder to share that we have officially closed our transformational acquisition of SP+. This acquisition and Growth Buyout (GBO) is creating a paradigm shift in how technology companies scale and represents the largest venture-backed M&A deal and the third largest AI fundraise (just behind OpenAI) in the past year. We’ve created a once-in-a-generation opportunity -- allowing us to deploy our proprietary, artificial intelligence technology to more than 50 million consumers, across 4,000+ locations, and processing over $4 billion in payments a year -- enabling checkout-free experiences with a speed, ease, and convenience that is unparalleled, even online. While re-envisioning parking is our focus and priority today, the opportunities for growth beyond parking are limitless. In the future, we’ll use our artificial intelligence platform to power checkout-free transactions in new verticals – making the everyday experience of living, working and playing remarkable – giving us back our most valuable asset, time. From the outside, an entrepreneur’s journey can seem linear and academic – identify a problem, develop solutions, raise capital, deploy, scale – and repeat. In reality, it’s entropic and riddled with roadblocks. We’ve been repeatedly told our ambitions are impossible. But – our team comes back each day with strength, tenacity, determination and conviction. We’ve learned from every failure, every denial, every slammed door, and we’ve gotten stronger, smarter and faster. Today we closed our $1.8B financing and take-private of SP+ – creating a company that’s stronger together. The last six years have been a remarkable journey. I couldn’t be more thankful for our investors, advisors and most importantly, the entire Metropolis Technologies team that helped get us here. Special thanks to my co-founders and executive team Peter Fisher, Travis Kell, Courtney Fukuda, Ryan Hunt, Eddie Thomas and John-Paul Sukkar. I’d also like to thank the newest members of our executive team Chris Sherman, Ritu Vig, Kris Roy and Wenyu Blanchard. Our Series C was comprised of a best-in-class syndicate, led by Eldridge Industries with significant investment from BDT & MSD Partners’ affiliated credit funds, Vista Equity Partners, and Temasek as well as strong support from Metropolis’ existing shareholder group led by 3L. Thank you to all our exceptional partners, investors and advisors who thought outside the box and believed in our vision, every step of the way -- including Tony Minella, Todd Boehly and Lisa Ohlmeyer at Eldridge, Anton Zietsman and Dave Leyrer at 3L, Goldman Sachs and BDT & MSD Partners. We’ll celebrate today but know, we’re just getting started.

My Next Career Chapter Begins Today! Like every chapter I've started, it's been a sequential adjacency to the previous; built on the shoulders of the learnings, experiences and network I've accumulated. Those experiences have led me to today as I go deeper into the intersection of mobility & real estate. Today I'm joining Metropolis Technologies to partner and expand our relationships with the largest real estate owners in the nation. Five years ago, I met the Metropolis founding team, Alexander Israel, Peter Fisher, Courtney Fukuda, Travis Kell and Eddie Thomas when they had a single demo location off Abbott Kinney in Venice Beach. They had a big dream, conviction and vision to overhaul the parking experience. While at Lincoln Property Company, we gave them a chance to reimagine the parking experience of a commercial high rise asset in Brentwood alongside Fortress Investment Group. We took a chance on their innovative approach and it paid off. We were lucky to be a small part of their catapulting experience that has led Metropolis Technologies to become the largest technology driven parking operator in the US. Metropolis Technologies has since grown – both organically and strategically via the recent acquisition of SP+ (SP Plus) – and now is evolving the parking experience across America into a frictionless and delightful journey. Can't wait to begin the journey and work alongside you Ryan Hunt, Chris Sherman, Ed Krafcik, Casey Epps, Caroline Kehs, Steven Berger, Zach Matthews and everyone else on the Metropolis team. LFG! Website: www.metropolis.io Recent News of the $1.8B Series C: https://lnkd.in/gcuc9tJZ https://lnkd.in/gwcNM6cx

Those who know me well understand that my passion is building people and teams. I love building remarkable experiences for employees, I love building better products based on employee feedback, and I love building teams of amazing people.    So it’s a rare and privileged opportunity for someone in my line of business – talent acquisition – to have the opportunity to witness firsthand the end-to-end employee experience of a company that I’ve targeted to join.    I’ve talked with many companies over the past couple of months, and of all of these my experience with Metropolis Technologies has been truly remarkable.    The people, the story, the opportunity, the brand – in roughly that order – have convinced me that this is my next home. The people are kind and smart. The story is compelling. The opportunity is vast. The brand is strong.    And that’s why I’m so pumped to have joined Metropolis Technologies today as VP of Talent Acquisition.    First impressions count, and what became incredibly clear incredibly quickly to me is this: the Metropolis team has the quality of talent needed to change the world, and the company is clear on its mission and what it takes to get there. By way of example, John-Paul Sukkar presented a challenge that's both incredibly hard to achieve and compelling, but reminded me that when you're surrounded by great people you truly enjoy being with, anything is possible.    Metropolis is a technology company that is rebuilding the broken parking industry by powering remarkable parking experiences with technology. The opportunity in parking is vast – everyone parks. But we also have longer term plans to pave a brighter future for all urban mobility.    Thank you to those who have already welcomed me with open arms – and to Metropolites I have not yet met, I can’t wait to get to know you all.     Let’s make this journey remarkable! 

Feeling fortunate to work for Metropolis Technologies - a growing organization which aspires to create a more inclusive and diverse culture. In that spirit, wishing members of the LGBTQ+ community and its allies an uplifting Pride Month — from Los Angeles to our farthest reaches!

What makes a great city? Earlier this week I had the privilege of discussing this very question at the Milken Institute Global Conference on a panel that focused on how technology powers urban innovation. Alongside Jeff Blau from Related Companies, Ross Perot Jr from Hillwood, Diane J. Hoskins, FAIA, NCARB from Gensler, and Carlos Moreno, author of “The 15-Minute City,” we dug into the future of mobility and technology’s role in improving how we live within urban centers. I was reminded of Amara’s Law – how people tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run. We’re at that inflection point in building AI for the real world and I’m proud of the work that Metropolis Technologies is doing to make it a reality. Metropolis is central in the interplay of evolving cities and in returning our most valuable and irreplaceable asset: time. Together, we can deploy new technology and reshape our built environments to make the way we work, play, and live remarkable. A special thanks to Brian Sullivan from CNBC for moderating this important conversation. Watch and learn more here: https://lnkd.in/g2sGcgNn #MIGlobal #Future #Mobility #Innovation #Tech