In September 2013 Nat Parker oversaw the launch of GlobeSherpa’s flagship mobile ticketing application, TriMet Tickets, the mobile payment and mobile ticket application for TriMet riders. It was the first mobile app to be used in the U.S. for riding both buses and trains. The goal of the app is to reduce expensive cash-based transactions and paper-based ticket media while furnishing TriMet with a rich set of data related to system use and consumer behavior.
This past year, Parker also oversaw the development and release of the mobile ticket application for Portland Streetcar. The Portland Streetcar opened in 2001 and serves the downtown Portland area. The two-route system serves some 13,000 daily riders.
In addition to developing the fare collection systems for TriMet and Portland Streetcar, Parker also oversees business development activity for the company. In 2014, GlobeSherpa announced new contracts with Virginia Railway Express, a joint project of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission and the Potomac Rappahannock Transportation Commission in northern Virginia; Valley Metro, a 57-mile high-capacity transit system located in Phoenix, Arizona; and Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), which provides public transportation to the city of Los Angeles.
Parker is also very involved in the local technology and entrepreneur scene. He acts as a mentor to other entrepreneurs through his involvement with TiE (The Indus Entrepreneur, a global community of more than 5,000 investors and startups) providing feedback to start ups in a variety of areas including funding strategies, go-to-market strategies, marketing and communications, and much more.
Since GlobeSherpa was founded in 2010, the company has grown to 21 full-time employees under Parker’s leadership. The company is quickly becoming a recognized leader for its ability to deliver thought leading, easy-to-use mobile ticketing technologies. The company has received significant media attention including pieces in Geekwire, Wired, The Oregonian, Portland Business Journal, The Next Web, The Street, and many more.
Parker has also been very involved with local venture capital organizations, including The Oregon Angel Fund, Portland Seed Fund and other start up-minded organizations like Technology Association of Oregon, Oregon Entrepreneur Association, iSITE design and others. In this role he coaches entrepreneurs on how to create meaningful businesses through innovation and hard work, how to build a differentiated company, and shares lessons he has learned since founding GlobeSherpa.
Parker also chairs the American Public Transportation Association Fare Collection Systems Data & Information Management Subcommittee.
Parker was named a 2014 Portland Business Journal Forty Under 40 recipient and GlobeSherpa won the Technology Association of Oregon Company of the Year (Startup) and the Juniper Research Future Mobile Award in Mobile Ticketing.
“Being an entrepreneur and building a company around innovations that has the potential to impact millions of people who use transit every day is one of the most exciting jobs in the world. I enjoy working with my team and our clients to bring new technologies to riders that make using transit easier.”
“I was in the Peace Corps in Senegal, West Africa, working on EcoTourism development just before the iPhone debuted. When it launched I had an idea to put a travel guide on the smartphone. It was a transformative technology and I recall immediately seeing the potential it would have on travel and transportation. This eventually led me to my graduate work at Portland State University where my co-founder Michael Gray and I focused our research on mobile ticketing for transit, and eventually the founding of GlobeSherpa.”
“Transit is the commons of our democracy. I love meeting all kinds of people and being connected to the cities where I travel. Transit offers so many complex problems to solve and creates an opportunity to introduce innovations and new techs.”
“I would like to see hands free mobile ticketing, integration of other services with transit like car and bike sharing, and parking. I would like to see more streetcars in underserved city neighborhoods.”
“My favorite hobby is backcountry (telemark) skiing. Portland is close to the amazing backcountry of Mount Hood, offering endless opportunities to get away from it all and make powder turns. I also really enjoy working with other entrepreneurs in the area to share my mistakes and lessons learned. I volunteer with Portland Incubator Experiment (PiE), TiE Oregon, and the Portland State University School of Business.”
