Metropolis Appoints Lookman Olusanya as CFO to Drive $5 Billion Valuation

Metropolis, an AI company specializing in checkout-free payment experiences, has appointed Lookman Olusanya as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Olusanya, who will join the company on June 30, brings a wealth of experience from his previous roles as CFO of Square, a company of Block, and financial leadership positions at Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Metropolis is currently in the process of raising funds at a valuation nearing $5 billion. The company has revolutionized parking experiences by automating vehicle recognition and payments through computer vision and AI, eliminating the need for traditional ticketing and payment methods. This innovation has significantly enhanced the convenience and efficiency of parking services.

Metropolis’ platform currently serves over 50 million customers and processes $5 billion in annual transaction volume, with a daily addition of 35,000 new members. The company’s AI capabilities are expanding beyond parking solutions, aiming to redefine how people access and interact with the physical world, starting with mobility. Olusanya expressed his excitement about joining Metropolis, citing the company’s visionary approach at the intersection of infrastructure, real estate, payments, and AI.

Olusanya’s decision to join Metropolis was influenced by his belief in the company’s team and founders, as well as the ambition and courage to create an entirely new category. He described his role as architecting the financial foundation of a company that is redefining physical interactions, a challenge he found impossible to pass up. Olusanya’s extensive experience in scaling high-growth businesses across cloud infrastructure, payments, and SaaS will be instrumental in driving Metropolis’ growth and financial systems with AI automation and precision analytics.

Metropolis, founded in 2017 by CEO Alex Israel, Peter Fisher, Courtney Fukuda, and Travis Kell, acquired SP Plus last year for approximately $1.5 billion. The deal, financed by $1.8 billion in funding led by Eldridge and 3L, made Metropolis the largest parking operator in North America. The company’s recent acquisition of Oosto, a developer of facial recognition and biometric technologies, further enhances its capabilities in AI and biometric solutions.

Olusanya’s priorities as CFO include listening and learning, growing the company’s financial systems with AI automation and precision analytics, and building the next chapter for Metropolis. He aims to create a native AI finance organization that is deeply integrated with the business and has AI at its core. Olusanya’s vision for Metropolis is to bring seamless, checkout-free transactions to life across various sectors, including retail, hospitality, refueling, and security.