February 8th, 2026
In the Spotlight: Grant Murray of Proximity Parking
This week, I sat down with Grant Murray, Founder and CEO of Proximity Parking, to talk about how he's turning one of the most universally frustrating experiences—paying for parking—into an economic development tool for cities and local businesses.
Here's the insight that sparked Proximity: every time someone parks downtown, they're standing right outside local businesses, yet the parking experience does nothing to connect them to what's nearby. Traditional parking apps are laser-focused on one thing—accepting payment—and that's it. Grant saw an opportunity to flip the model. Instead of parking being an obstacle to local commerce, what if it became an asset?
Proximity lets drivers pay for parking through a simple QR code scan—no app download required. As they pay, they see location-based offers from nearby restaurants, shops, and businesses. The platform is free for cities and parking operators, which makes the sales pitch a lot easier (governments like free). Grant raised $1.5 million from Connetic Ventures, KeyHorse Capital, and strategic angels to build it, and he's already live in Lexington and Covington—with Newport, Louisville, and Cincinnati in his sights.
The Covington launch is particularly well-timed. With the Fourth Street Bridge closing for two years and Brent Spence construction looming, downtown businesses need every tool they can get to drive foot traffic. The city chose a local startup—one based at SparkHaus, Covington's new entrepreneurship hub—to help. It's a good example of what's possible when Kentucky's ecosystem actually rallies behind its own.
What We Discussed:
The folder of parking apps everyone has - Grant's origin story: a frustrating parking experience that most of us can relate to, and why he saw an opportunity where others just saw annoyance.
Selling to governments (without losing your mind) - Why VCs thought Grant wouldn't be able to get cities to change, and how he proved them wrong in less than a year by validating the idea with businesses first.
The $1.5M seed round that wasn't supposed to happen - Grant originally planned to raise a small pre-seed. Then Connetic led, KeyHorse came in, and the round tripled. He shares what worked and what advice he'd give first-time founders.
Why SparkHaus matters for Northern Kentucky - How being based at Covington's new entrepreneurship hub helped Grant land his first city customers—and why physical ecosystem infrastructure changes the game for founders.
Staying in Kentucky as a competitive advantage - Grant could build anywhere. He chose to stay. We dig into why reputation compounds faster in smaller markets, and what it would take to lock down every paid-parking city in the state.
Upcoming Events:
February 25th, 2026 - 5 Across Pitch Competition
5 Across returns for another year! 5 local startups will pitch for up to $5,500. Entrepreneurship, competition, and community collide.
As a subscriber of Middle Tech, you can register for free at this link.
We hope you enjoy this episode! If you have any thoughts after listening, feel free to shoot me a message at [email protected]
Have a great week, friends!
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