Park Software / Company Spotlight
The story of Park begins exactly where you’d expect: in an RV.
During the pandemic, hometown friends Rylan Blowers and John Donner set off on a road trip to several National Parks out west. Both had spent their early 20s working at startups, and now, in what Rylan called their “quarter-life crises,” they were on the road.
One evening, frustrated by the hassle of calling or emailing to book a campsite, Rylan wondered why there wasn’t an easier way to reserve online. John, his former co-lead at the University of Rochester’s entrepreneurship club, responded like any true entrepreneur: “Let’s build it.”
“I was like, ‘Alright, slow your roll. Let’s get some validation first,’” Rylan recalled in an interview with VCET.
That night they pulled into a campground and pitched the owner, who shared his frustration with managing everything manually. Existing booking software was too complex and expensive, making it impractical for small, family-run campgrounds. As a result, many sites still relied on pen and paper or disjointed online systems.
Rylan and John decided to stay up all night to build a prototype, and by morning, the owner was so impressed that he became their first customer.
Months later, that prototype evolved into Park, a campground management software. Park allows campground owners to manage every aspect of their operation – from accepting reservations to invoicing and reporting. The platform supports any type of booking, including RV sites, tent sites, and cabins.
Although Park wasn’t the first campground management software to enter the market, it stood out in two key ways.
First, the platform is incredibly simple, featuring a drag-and-drop interface that any campground owner can easily navigate, regardless of technical ability. Training a new employee takes minutes instead of months.
Second, Park is completely free for campgrounds, with only a small fee passed on to campers. Rylan explained that this decision considered both the financial constraints of campgrounds and the growth opportunities it could create for Park.
“We set everything up as a win-win. It leads to the familial feel we’ve been able to maintain,” said Rylan. “What salesperson gets to have [the customer] say ‘thank you?’”
Today, Park primarily serves thousands of small to medium-sized campgrounds in the U.S., Canada, and beyond. Recently, Park expanded into Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, with more expansion plans on the horizon.
“Growth is great – we can’t keep up,” said Rylan. “Last year, I was a madman doing back-to-back demos. Now we have hired multiple more people to help us with sales.”
Much like its clientele, Park’s 11-person team is spread across the globe. John, based in Portugal, leads a European-based engineering team, while Rylan heads the U.S.-based growth team, spread across the country.
“When we decided to go out and fundraise, I really wanted to have a local investment partner,” said Rylan, who moved to Burlington last summer with his fiancée. “Within seconds of walking into VCET, I realized this was that place. The team can help you with these quandaries that we face as entrepreneurs, but in a community environment.”
As Park continues to grow, it’s branching into adjacent industries, including marinas, stables, and fairgrounds. Looking ahead, Rylan envisions building dedicated teams to serve each of these niches to provide even more specialized support.
With a passionate team and a product that campground owners genuinely thank them for, Park is only just getting started.
“I feel super grateful to be building a company around something that people are so passionate about, like camping,” said Rylan. “When you get to start from a point of passion, everything else – from building the product to recruiting – becomes much easier.” Learn more about Park’s journey, technology, and team on their website. Find them on LinkedIn here.
