Startup Tales | CityZ: the Turin-based startup that uses IoT and AI to reduce traffic and urban inefficiencies

Reducing the time spent looking for parking means cutting traffic, emissions, and urban stress. It is from this awareness that CityZ was born, a Turin-based startup that combines proprietary IoT sensors and artificial intelligence to transform parking into a measurable and efficient digital infrastructure.

Through outdoor and indoor parking sensors and an advanced software platform, CityZ makes reliable data on parking space occupancy available, addressing parking operators, CPOs, companies, and public administrations.

“Parking is not just a matter of convenience, but of traffic and productivity: every minute spent searching for a parking space generates congestion, emissions, and operational inefficiencies, especially in the last mile,” explains Andrea Buri, CEO and co‑founder of CityZ.

The CityZ solution responds to clear needs: reducing parking search, protecting dedicated spaces (e.g., EV charging, fleets, kiss&go), enabling control and enforcement against improper use, and improving the experience in high‑turnover and high‑criticality areas.

Smart parking and smart city: CityZ’s technological vertical

CityZ operates in the smart city and smart parking verticals with an end‑to‑end approach that integrates hardware and software into a single scalable solution.

The technology integrates:
proprietary sensors for detecting parking space occupancy, in outdoor and indoor environments;
connectivity and large‑scale data management;
dashboards and APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) for integration with the systems of municipalities, parking operators, CPOs, and companies;
configurable digital modules for real‑time monitoring, flow analysis, anomaly detection, and, when required, reservation and last‑mile support.

The solution addresses the needs of a dual target: on the one hand cities and infrastructures, called upon to optimize limited and strategic urban spaces; on the other B2B operators – logistics, e‑mobility, retail, airports – that must reduce downtime and protect dedicated assets such as EV charging spaces, loading/unloading areas, and reserved zones.

The origins of the startup: from Turin to industrial development

CityZ was founded in Turin from the meeting between Andrea Buri and Fernando Falcone, respectively CEO and CTO. Buri has a background in Physics, complemented by paths in economics and fundraising, while Falcone holds a degree in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, with a focus on intelligent and scalable systems.

As often happens in hardware‑software startups, the development path has been complex and progressive: from the first MVP (Minimum Viable Product) to the certifications of the final product, the journey required numerous technical steps, design iterations, and errors necessary for the technological and industrial maturation of the solution.

Over time, key figures such as Alessandro Rivalta and Donato Falcone joined, with skills in electronics and product design, both trained at the Polytechnic with specific expertise in electronics and product design.

Around them, a multidisciplinary team has grown, supporting the company in technological maturation and commercial expansion, integrating engineering, software, and operational skills, and accompanying the company’s growth both in terms of technological maturity and in the number and relevance of clients that today use CityZ technology in urban, infrastructural, and energy contexts.

Here is how Andrea Buri summarizes the main evolutionary stages of CityZ:
- technical validation of sensors in real environments, with attention to robustness, reliability, installation, and maintenance;
- development of a platform capable of managing fleets of sensors and normalizing data across heterogeneous projects;
- launch of collaborations with clients operating in complex contexts, including urban, motorway, e‑mobility, and airport environments;
- progressive focus on high‑operational‑impact use cases such as EV charging spaces, kiss&go areas, last‑mile logistics, and parking enforcement systems.

The growth path required addressing challenges typical of technological industrialization, such as supply chain management and production processes, standardization of large‑scale installations, and integration with different software ecosystems and operational workflows.
Today, CityZ represents the result of this journey: a technology platform matured in the field, designed to scale reliably and support the digital transformation of urban mobility.

From sensors to data: CityZ technology in action

One of CityZ’s distinctive elements is its focus on data at the source. The goal is not only to know whether a parking space is free or occupied, but to ensure continuous, accurate, and reliable measurement, integrable into mobility management systems.

The technology consistently covers:

outdoor environments, characterized by variable weather conditions, road surfaces, and complex urban contexts; indoor environments, such as multi‑storey car parks, private facilities, corporate campuses, and retail spaces, with lighter and more flexible installation solutions.

On this technological foundation, several high‑operational‑impact use cases are developed.

In the world of e‑mobility, CityZ enables the protection and optimization of charging spaces, monitoring real occupancy, preventing improper use, and improving vehicle turnover. For cities and urban operators, the availability of reliable data makes it possible to analyze parking flows and reduce parking search time, with direct benefits on traffic and emissions.

In high‑intensity infrastructural nodes — such as airports or kiss&go areas — the technology enables more efficient management of critical spaces.
Likewise, in corporate contexts and company campuses, it supports the optimization of reserved spaces and access control.
Finally, in last‑mile logistics, it makes it possible to provide drivers with real‑time information on availability and anomalies, creating a true digital operational layer of parking.

Parking enforcement and last‑mile logistics: high‑impact use cases

The CityZ approach is system‑level: occupancy data is cross‑referenced with usage rules, time windows, authorizations, and operational events. This makes it possible to automatically identify improper occupancy and anomalies, transforming critical issues—such as illegal parking in EV charging bays or in dedicated areas—into very high‑value use cases for both public and private operators.

In sectors such as e‑mobility, airports, motorway networks, and urban logistics, the platform becomes a true digital operational layer for parking, capable of improving turnover, control, and overall efficiency. Across all these contexts, the goal remains the same: to transform parking into a measurable, manageable, and intelligent infrastructure, capable of generating operational efficiency and new digital services.

The support of Intesa Sanpaolo and the Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center

Throughout CityZ’s growth journey, engagement with Intesa Sanpaolo and Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center has represented a strategic element, particularly in terms of industrial validation, qualified networking, and business opportunity development.

For a startup operating on critical infrastructures, credibility is a key factor, just as important as technological quality. Access to structured environments and high‑level stakeholders helps accelerate go‑to‑market and strengthen the positioning of the technological value proposition.
This collaboration has translated into participation in innovation‑focused initiatives, strategic networking support, and national and international visibility.

Within this framework, collaboration with the Intesa Sanpaolo ecosystem takes the form of:
participation in initiatives, meetings, and programs dedicated to innovation and startup growth;
support in strategic networking and potential introductions to industrial and institutional counterparts;
involvement in structured acceleration programs, such as Up2Stars, promoted by Intesa Sanpaolo in collaboration with INNOVIT, aimed at supporting international development and the technological evolution of high‑potential companies;
access to contexts of national and international visibility useful for accelerating commercial development and partnership opportunities.

CityZ’s future goals: parking as a digital infrastructure

CityZ is evolving from a smart parking solution into a digital enabling infrastructure within smart mobility. The objective is to make parking data continuous, reliable, and fully integrable into urban and industrial systems. On the commercial side, the priority is expansion into high‑impact contexts—e‑mobility, airports, urban logistics, corporate areas—while simultaneously strengthening partnerships with energy operators, infrastructure managers, and mobility providers, in Italy and across major European markets.

On the technological side, the platform is increasingly oriented toward:
- predictive analysis of flows;
- automatic anomaly detection;
- measurable impact metrics on traffic, parking search times, and avoided emissions.

At the same time, the company continues to invest in the protection and enhancement of its technological asset, a central element in ensuring industrial scalability and long‑term competitive advantage.

From an organizational and financial perspective, growth is focused on the targeted strengthening of the team in key areas—international business development, operational delivery, and enterprise integrations—supported by openness to capital and strategic partnerships capable of sustaining the scale‑up phase. In the long term, the ambition is to transform parking into a fully integrated component of the digital urban infrastructure: measurable, governable, and capable of guiding operational decisions for cities and mobility operators.