Bee Blog Icon

The Latest Buzz

Introducing the Hivemapper Network: The World’s First Blockchain-Based Mapping Network

Hivemapper raises $18 million in Series A funding
We’re thrilled to announce a $18 million series A round led by Multicoin Capital with participation from Craft Ventures, Solana Capital, Shine Capital, and Spencer Rascoff’s 75 and Sunny Ventures. Joining previous investors Spark Capital, Founder Collective, and Homebrew, they bring our total financing to $23 million to date. As part of this financing Amir Haleem, CEO and Founder of Helium, will be joining the board.
This round also includes support from notable angels, including Anatoly Yakovenko, CEO and Co-Founder of Solana, Raj Gokal, COO and Co-Founder of Solana, Amir Haleem, CEO and Founder at Nova Labs (formerly known as Helium), Nick Hammerschlag (formerly General Atlantic and Openview Ventures), David Rogier, CEO and Founder of Masterclass, Matt Rutler Investor, Masterclass executive, Luc Levesque, Shopify executive, Elie Seidman, former CEO of Tinder, Mark Williamson, COO at Masterclass, and Jaron Waldman, former Apple Maps and Rakuten executive.
The world’s first crypto-based mapping network
Our company’s mission is to scale a decentralized mapping network that keeps our world’s valuable map data up-to-date, equitable, censorship-free, and permissionless. The Hivemapper Network is designed to make co-creating a new global map easy, accessible to everyone, and meaningful. The Hivemapper Network will usher in a new chapter for the mapping economy.
How our decentralized map will revolutionize the mapping economy
The map infrastructure billions of people depend on is currently monopolized and controlled by Big Tech. Google Maps owns about 80% of the market. Why should one company own and control so much of this critical $300B market?
With blockchain technology it is possible to share value among everyone who contributes to a crypto-based network. The Hivemapper Network will never become a monopoly; it is a network of map contributors and map consumers intricately connected on a blockchain, participating in the exchange of valuable map data.
“Mapping is an extremely complex, expensive, and time-consuming process. Only the largest and most capitalized tech companies in the world have the resources to do digital mapping, and even with all those resources in many parts of the world street level imagery is only updated once every two years. This causes cascading logistical, municipal, and political problems. However, maps have the potential to be near real time. A decentralized map is the only way to continuously construct a living, breathing, ever-updating view of our world,” said Ariel Seidman, co-founder and CEO, Hivemapper.
Map contributors: Earn HONEY tokens for providing coverage, freshness, and quality
Map contributors are drivers and editors. Drivers capture 4K, street-level imagery using dashcams. Map editors then process that data, carry out quality assurance, and annotate contributor imagery. In exchange, both drivers and editors are rewarded with the network’s native token, HONEY, for providing map coverage, freshness, and quality.
Map consumers: Burn existing HONEY tokens to use map APIs
Maps are used by insurance providers, real estate services, logistics companies, navigation and delivery apps, and governmental organizations, just to name a few. Hivemapper’s API is easily implemented, affordable, and already used by hundreds of forward-thinking innovators and businesses across the globe. Map consumers can request map images, directions, or address geocoding with simple calls. In addition to coordinating the creation of the map, the Hivemapper Network also coordinates the exchange of map data between contributors and consumers using HONEY.
The network’s tokenomics and governance
The Hivemapper Network: This diagram shows the two-sided marketplace between map contributors and map consumers interacting on the Hivemapper Network with its cryptocurrency token HONEY.
In “How the Hivemapper Network Works,” we cover the milestones necessary to launch and scale the network, describe how the tokenomics of HONEY will incentivize map coverage, freshness, and quality, and explain the burn and mint equilibrium with a net emissions model.
Hivemapper’s cost-effective approach
“Hivemapper has a structural cost advantage over mapping incumbents insofar as it doesn’t have to buy or maintain extortionately expensive mapping vehicles — which can cost more than $1 million each — nor does it have to pay people to drive those cars around. Instead, the network can simply identify regions that need to be mapped and put bounties on them, which are then claimed by a vast community of map contributors who are eager to claim those rewards for simply driving their daily commutes. As a result, Hivemapper creates unprecedented coverage, freshness, and quality in a radically more cost-effective way,” said Tushar Jain, Managing Partner, Multicoin Capital.
Introducing the Hivemapper Dashcam: A new category of dashcam and crypto miner
The Hivemapper Dashcam is available for pre-order today and will start shipping in the summer.
The Hivemapper Dashcam is the world’s first crypto miner dashcam. It natively integrates with the Hivemapper Network through a seamless mobile app and puts mapping on autopilot with automatic uploads. Simply install the Hivemapper Dashcam in your car, drive, and mine HONEY for collecting 4K street-level imagery and growing a decentralized map of our world. Pre-order the Hivemapper Dashcam today and save $100.
Coverage: Scaling our network of contributors to provide map
This GIF shows how contributors have been co-creating the map of the Los Angeles metro area
It is mesmerizing to see how the torrents of data streaming from the dashcams of drivers light up a city, putting its roads and alleyways on the map. Seven months ago, we launched in the Los Angeles metro area and contributors grew map coverage to more than 410,000 total road km mapped to date. Every month, hundreds of daily contributors refresh 30% of the Los Angeles Metro area map.
The distance between our Earth and its Moon is 384,472 km. 1.67 million km is 4.3 times the distance to the Moon.
The Hivemapper Mapping Network has collectively mapped more than 1,670,000 road km over 10 months and across 9 markets. To put things in perspective, 1 million road km is more than two round trips to the Moon. We will be launching in 30 more markets in late 2022 and rolling out globally next year.
Freshness: Visualize how drivers all over the world are co-creating a new global map
This GIF shows Hivemapper’s Freshview feature
Using Hivemapper’s Freshview feature, map consumers can zoom in on an intersection and see a timelapse montage of that location. Businesses rely on up to date map data, including real-time imagery, to make informed decisions about logistics, deliveries and directions.
Quality: Collecting 4K street-level imagery
This image was uploaded by a contributor in Manila, Philippines
All of this expanding and updating map coverage is high quality 4K street-level imagery. Equipped with dashcams, map contributors render our world in pixel-perfect resolution. It is mind-boggling to think that soon we’ll be able to scroll over this community-generated decentralized map, zoom in on any region and examine things as small as parking meters. To top that off, chances are that the image is not older than seven days and the person who contributed it earned some HONEY for it. It’s a win-win for all.
Why is a decentralized map better than a map owned by a monopoly?
A map that goes beyond a single company and is collaboratively built by people all over the world is superior to a map owned by a monopoly on many levels. A mapping network that incentivizes and rewards its contributors will facilitate the creation of a state-of-the-art map. Decentralized map data and governance will result in a censorship-proof and democratic map that continuously evolves and updates. Everyone who participates in the Hivemapper Network will not only be rewarded for their contributions but also get a say in what geographic regions are represented on its map.
Mainnet launch, network expansion, and crypto-integrated dashcam
We will use our Series A funds to support our mainnet launch this summer, scale our network of contributors, and deliver our crypto-integrated dashcam, the Hivemapper Dashcam.
Save $100 when you pre-order the Hivemapper Dashcam by May 5
Save $100 when you pre-order the Hivemapper Dashcam by May 5

We’re hiring! Would you like to join our growing team? Take a look at career opportunities at Hivemapper.

Share Post

Latest Posts

Images Blog Mini5-reasons-hivemapper-built-bee

5 Reasons Hivemapper Built the Bee

February 21, 2024

Images Blog Miniget-rewarded-for-road-reporting-with-the-new-hivemapper-app

Get Rewarded for Road Reporting with the New Hivemapper App

January 24, 2024

Images Blog Minihow-to-manage-your-hivemapper-fleet-operationally

How to Manage Your Hivemapper Fleet Operationally

January 18, 2024