Have suggestions for products that you’d like to see reviewed by our real estate technology expert? Email Craig Rowe.
Mapfit, a vector-map creation and navigation company that champions exact door-to-door directions, has announced this week the appointment of Jeroen Seghers as its new CEO.
Jeroen Seghers
Seghers is a self-described “serial entrepreneur,” most recently a co-founder and chief marketing officer of Sourcepoint, a compensation platform for media and content companies. He’s also an investor in Mapfit and board member. New York City-based Mapfit secured $5.5 million in funding in June, and explicitly courts the real estate industry.
Mapfit is going up against giants in the space such as Google Maps and Apple Maps, but it has several advantages that could make it viable. One is cost: Google announced a price hike for use of its mapping API earlier this year, which is used on countless real estate brokerage websites to help prospects search for properties and associate addresses with nearby retail amenities and schools, for example.
In a direct shot at Google, Mapfit offers a “Limited Use Projects” account level for no cost, and a $49/month fee for “High Growth Companies.”
It also aims to be more precise. Mapfit’s “last 10 feet” technology helps users pinpoint specific entry doors, and differentiate between a security entrance and resident entrance, for example. The use cases for Mapfit are ideal for agents in urban markets and walkable communities.
In-car GPS and smartphone mapping and traffic apps have gone beyond merely providing directions, and are used to evade traffic delays, plan the most efficient travel routes, and locate and contact nearby destinations.
Along those lines, Mapfit is aiming to collect more mapping data from connected cars and devices, rather than public data sources and municipalities, because people and cars are most often parking near and entering actual resident entrances.
Mapfit also leverages data collected through LIDAR, the same technology used by Google and other companies to map 3D surroundings for maps and realtime environmental awareness of driverless cars.
In a press release, Mapfit’s new CEO said that it’s now a pivotal time for the young company.
“Where I envision the company moving forward is providing the backbone technology, supporting advancements such as the future of transportation and autonomous vehicles, drone delivery, and other aspects of the on-demand economy,” said Seghers.
Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe
