ON-DEMAND Vallie valet parking has raised $750,000 seed funding led by Saatchi Invest to expand from its central London operations across the UK and into mainland Europe.

Vallie, co-founded by Nash Islam and Robin Doble in 2015, is an on-demand personal valet parking service that allows customers to drop their car anywhere in Central London, where it is collected by a driver and parked for £5 per hour or £25 a day – far less than the average car park and a lot more convenient.

Vallie has parked thousands of cars and grown its coverage area five-fold since launch.

In addition to Saatchi Invest, this round’s investors include the London Co-Investment Fund and the CEO of the Met Group Danny Kessler and his partner, Michael Jacobs, who invested after using Vallie’s service.

How Vallie valet parking works:

For Customers:  Users book a collection time and place using the app. Upon arrival, they hand over the car and keys to a designated Vallie driver, who then parks it at a secure location. The car can then be returned to any chosen destination within 15 minutes.

For Companies: The service can be offered as a company benefit to employees who need to drive into the office  especially where a designated parking spot is either in short supply or prohibitively expensive. Vallie’s parking rates are 40% lower than the London average.

Additional Concierge services include car washes, fuel refills, electric charging, MOT checks,  tyre pressure checks and pretty much anything else a London driver would need.

Vallie CEO Nash Islam says: “London is one of the most difficult and expensive places to park in the world. Our customers love Vallie and the services we provide.

“It’s not just parking, it’s about improving the entire car owner experience and to make driving into London work for both the driver and the city. Vallie’s model can work well in almost any city across the world. This round allows Vallie to deliver on that potential immediately.”

Saatchi Invest partner Leo Castellanos said: “Saatchi Invest backs big ideas that change the world in elegant yet simple ways. We love what Vallie are doing and are impressed with their overall customer experience.

“We see untapped potential and believe Vallie is not only the future of parking, but also very relevant to the way communities and cars converge in the ongoing forging of smart cities.”

Danny Kessler, CEO of the Met Group and an early Vallie customer, added: “Vallie makes parking phenomenally easy – my wife and I both love it and use it regularly. We use it for the office,  business meetings and even for dinners and going to the theatre in town.

“I was so impressed  by the convenience and luxury experience of the service I said I had to invest from the first time I used it.”