Hivemapper secures $18M funding to create decentralized version of web maps

Solana-based mapping platform Hivemapper is tapping into the world of web maps, an industry primarily dominated by centralized platforms such as Google and Apple.

The company has raised $18 million in a Series A funding round led by Multicoin Capital with participation from Craft Ventures, Solana Capital, Shine Capital, and Spencer Rascoff’s 75 & Sunny Ventures.

In addition, angel investors Nova Labs founder and CEO Amir Haleem, Solana Labs co-founders Anatoly Yakavenko and Raj Gokal, Masterclass founder and CEO David Rogier, former Tinder CEO Elie Seidman, and former Apple Maps executive Jaron Waldman, also poured significant capital into the startup.

“Only the largest and most capitalized tech companies in the world have the resources to do digital mapping, and even with all those resources street-level imagery in many parts of the world is only updated once every two years,” Ariel Seidman, co-founder and CEO of Hivemapper, explained in the press release. “This causes cascading logistical, municipal, and political problems.”

Hivemapper is aiming to create a community-owned decentralized map that will be a more up-to-date alternative to currently available options. It plans to create a Web3 map by rewarding drivers who drive around the city and capture data on the company-issued dashcam.

Drivers will receive incentives in $HONEY, the native crypto token of Hivemapper, for furnishing data on specific regions. In addition, Hivemapper also plans to reward map editors who will process the provided data, carry out quality assurance, and annotate contributor imagery.

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