BaseUp backing: Investors see value in Aussie start-up taking on America

The company is a second car parking related start-up for the three co-founders Alex Peck, Jack Perkins, and Peter Carey, who sold their previous firm Parallel Parking in 2017, and the $4.25 million funding follows two smaller seed rounds.

BaseUp co-founder Jack Perkins is staying in Sydney, while his co-founder and CEO Alex Peck works from Denver to drive its US efforts.

Mr Peck said BaseUp saw an opportunity in the more irregular office attendance of workers around the world, selling its software to companies that can then choose to sell underused spaces, or offer them to employees as a perk or incentive to come to the office.

Mr Peck and Mr Perkins spoke to The Australian Financial Review about the funding round, at a time when the tech pages had been filled with stories about tech companies laying off staff and suffering valuation decreases, due to a chill in VC and public investment markets.

BaseUp co-founders (from left) Peter Carey, Alex Peck and Jack Perkins previously founded another parking-focused start-up together, which they sold. .

Mr Perkins said investors had liked the fact that BaseUp was operating profitably prior to the funding, and were not phased by the prospect of the company entering a period of unprofitability as it targets US growth.

Mr Peck said it had been a big change personally and professionally to move to the US, but said the founders had felt it would be crazy to launch in such a big new country, without him being based there full time.