Mappedin raises $24.5M

Indoor maps are still rare, and Mappedin just raised $24.5 million to make more of them. (businesswire.com) The Waterloo, Ontario, company said April 7 that Edison Partners led the growth-equity round and Betatron Venture Group also invested. Mappedin said it has mapped more than 10 billion square feet of indoor space across 86 countries. (businesswire.com) Indoor mapping starts with a building’s floor plan and location data, then turns that into a digital map people can search, view in three dimensions, and use for navigation. Mappedin says its software uses artificial intelligence and light detection and ranging, or LiDAR, to turn static plans into maps that update as spaces change. (mappedin.com) (locationbusinessnews.com) The company said the new money will push its platform beyond single buildings toward district-scale and city-scale deployments. It also said it plans to expand access for first responders, safety organizations, and large public venues. (businesswire.com) That pitch targets a gap that outdoor mapping largely solved years ago. Mappedin said more than 80% of the world’s road network has been digitally mapped, while 99% of building interiors remain unmapped. (businesswire.com) Mappedin sells those maps into places where people routinely get lost or staff need a live picture of the space: airports, malls, stadiums, workplaces, schools, healthcare sites, and public venues. Betatron said Mappedin’s customers include Simon Property Group, Los Angeles International Airport, and Super Bowl stadiums. (mappedin.com) (betatron.co) The company’s roots go back to the University of Waterloo ecosystem more than a decade ago. Velocity, the local startup incubator, said Mappedin’s early momentum included a $25,000 award in 2011, and the company now traces its mission to making indoor maps easy to create and maintain. (velocityincubator.com) (mappedin.com) Investors are betting the map itself becomes infrastructure, not just a wayfinding screen near an escalator. Betatron said hospitals, airports, stadiums, campuses, and office towers increasingly use indoor maps for operations and emergency response as well as visitor navigation. (betatron.co) Mappedin is using the new cash to argue that the next big mapping buildout is inside buildings, not on roads. The test now is whether venues will pay to keep those maps current at the scale the company is promising. (businesswire.com) (ventureburn.com)