Hivemapper Raises $18M to Give Maps the Web 3 Treatment
The Hivemapper Network is building the world’s first blockchain-based global map & crypto miner dashcam for decentralized mapping has raised $18M to Give Maps the Web 3 Treatment.
Inspired by the success of Helium, Hivemapper will incentivize participation in the network with the distribution of its native HONEY tokens.
The San Francisco-based company has raised $18 million in a funding round led that was by Multicoin Capital. Some big names from crypto and technology also invested, including Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal, the founders of the Solana blockchain; Jaron Waldman, a former Apple Maps executive; and Amir Haleem, CEO of Helium, which is another blockchain.
According to CEO Ariel Seidman, the funds will be used to support the mainnet launch of Hivemapper’s native HONEY token and to get more map contributors.
In exchange for HONEY tokens, the map contributors install specially designed dashcams in their cars that share the footage with Hivemapper, which is then used to create maps.
Seidman, who started Hivemapper as a non-crypto company in 2015, told CoinDesk he was inspired by the success and rapid growth of Helium, a crypto-incentivized network of wireless hotspots, which also began as a non-crypto company in 2013.
Seidman envisions Hivemapper’s primary customer – at least for the next two or three years – will be businesses looking for a cheaper and more up-to-date alternative to Google Maps.
“Google’s maps are high quality but also very, very expensive,” Seidman said. “The entire mapping pipeline is exceptional, but its Achilles heel is the fact that it’s so expensive. Your ability to refresh an area is, for places like Lagos, Nigeria, or Manila or other locations – it becomes cost-prohibitive over time.”
Because Hivemapper sells equipment to independent contributors who have their own vehicles, the company’s cost is much lower, Seidman explained.
“If you look in Palo Alto – Google Street View for University Avenue, which is in Google’s backyard – probably gets updated every 14 months,” Seidman said. “For the same price, we could probably do it once a week.”
About Hivemapper
Hivemapper is a decentralized, ever-updating map built by people, using dashcams, who soon will mine our cryptocurrency, HONEY. This new mapping economy represents a fundamental shift in how maps are built and who owns them, sharing the economic benefits of a global map with those who are building it.
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