Colas has acquired a 56% stake in the start-up Parkki, through its subsidiary Aximum, which specializes in road equipment, a partnership that showcases Colas' sharp focus on developing solutions for intelligent, connected mobility.

Created in 2016 out of Lille, France1, Parkki is a start-up that is revolutionizing mobility experiences by centralizing information and creating unique travel assistance services for users. Since it was launched, Parkki has assisted more than 50 clients, including major retail players such as Auchan, Carrefour, Leclerc, Leroy Merlin, and more. Parkki will work in close collaboration with Aximum, a Colas Group company with a workforce of nearly 2,000 employees.

The project teams up complementary expertise at Aximum, which boasts a strong local network specialized in road signs, signals and security solutions, flow management and optimized mobility, and at Parkki, which is developing a range of services involving parking, flows and metering. With Parkki's skills in data collection and analysis and Aximum's know-how, local authorities will benefit from new service solutions to optimize mobility, tailormade to fit specific local use cases. 

The partnership will underpin the Colas Group's actions in favor of dynamic, shared and peaceful management of public spaces, in particular digital and service solutions developed by its Mobility by Colas entity. Colas is clearly helping local communities grow and become more attractive, while meeting the needs and challenges of sustainable development.

"By strengthening our ties with Parkki, we wish to develop Aximum's innovative offerings for local authorities, to provide them with parking management solutions, to meet new mobility challenges, and, by doing so, reduce carbon impacts", explains Sandra Chabrier Breil-Martin, Chairman of Aximum.

"After several years of sustained growth in the retail sector, we are pleased and proud of this partnership with Colas, which opens a new and very promising chapter in the history of Parkki. The aim of the merger is twofold: to boost our development in the retail market thanks to the Group's support, and to pool our strengths to build the leading player in smart mobility in France and Europe for local authorities and regions", explains Pierre-Julien Harbonnier, CEO of Parkki.

1 Start-up created in 2016 by Pierre-Julien HARBONNIER, Adrien d’HOLLANDER, Antoine GUILLON and Thibault ITART-LONGUEVILLE.