Indonesia is one of the most rapid-growing economies that also has the maximum land area, compared to its Southeast Asian counterparts.
But major cities in the country have long been suffering from congestion problems due to its growing density, along with an increase of vehicles in the country.
One of the major issues in Indonesia is motorcycle parking. A country that has heavy traffic congestion, the problem is exacerbated with inadequate space for parking.
According to the company, there are around 120 million motorcycles in Indonesia. Other sources put that figure at 115 million. Of these over 16 million (anywhere between 13% – 15%) of them are in Jakarta, making the capital one of the most congested cities in the world.
Moreover, the number of motorcycles on the road continues to increase. In 2019 the growth was over 7% y-o-y.
About 82% of the total vehicle in the region consist of motorcycles. While motorcycle ownership increases by about 7% annually, by comparison to the growth of additional roads which is only 0.1% per year.
Soul Parking CBO describes the situation as, “Motorcycles are parked illegally everywhere. They are parked on the road, on the side of the road… they even use the bridge. That’s the consequence of having a small area of roads in Indonesia. Then it goes around to the big roads as well … it costs big time and adds to congestions.”
Soul Parking decided to address this problem with tech in a smart way. As Indonesian citizens, they wanted to make a change with solutions that have an impact on society.
The startup provides locally produced compact motorcycle storage (CMS), which enables motorcycle parking to be more “secured, accountable, and comfortable.”
The founders of the startup, 2 brothers and their 2 friends, were in the parking industry and construction sector.
The idea for the startup came early last year when the four were casually discussing some of the business prospects in Indonesia related to traffic jams.
The Compact Motorcycle System
To tackle the challenges, Soul Parking builds a Compact Motorcycle System (CMS) which has been patented by the company.
The compact system allows motorcycle drivers to easily park their vehicles vertically, in an organised way.
“With approximately a 60 meters square plot of land, one CMS module can cater up to 240 motorcycles, essentially 8x more productive than conventional off-street parking,” explained the CFO of Soul Parking.
As of end-February, the company has opened its first location in Jakarta at Kebon Kacang area, right across Plaza Indonesia and Hotel Keraton. They intend to continue growing it.
CMS also provides added security which includes insurance coverage and CCTV installation.
In June, the startup announced an undisclosed seed funding round from co-led by AC Ventures and Agaeti Ventures, with the participation of strategic angel investors.
With the fresh funding, Soul Parking aims to build 10 CMSes this year. It also plans to develop a mobile app that includes features such as parking discovery, booking, and payments.
