Startup raises $52.55 million to change the future of location technology

SAN FRANCISCO, June 17, 2015 — (PRNewswire) —  Mapbox today announced a $52.55 million Series B round of funding led by DFJ Growth, with participation from DBL Partners, Foundry Group, Thrive Capital, Promus Ventures, Pritzker Group and Jon Winkelried. Mapbox is a full-stack mapping platform for developers and provides the building blocks needed to integrate location into any mobile or online application.

"This new financing round gives us massive reach," said Eric Gundersen, CEO of Mapbox. "This investment will enable us to keep building amazing technology and hire the best people in the world to do it. What we're building isn't just a map; it's the building blocks for a complete mapping stack. It will change how people move around cities, how scientists understand the planet, and how geo applications are built."

With this new capital, Mapbox will invest in their team and grow the company across all departments, from engineering and data to operations and sales. This fundraising also welcomes Randy Glein of DFJ Growth and Ira Ehrenpreis from DBL Partners to the Mapbox board.

"We are living in a mobile-first world where real-time maps and rich location data are central to our digital and physical lives. Mapbox has built a unique, full-stack mapping and data platform that offers unprecedented performance, flexibility and control for developers who want to embed geolocation functionality into their applications," said Randy Glein, Managing Director at DFJ Growth. "Mapbox is well positioned as the independent mapping platform that developers can rely on for all their mapping and geolocation needs.  We are thrilled to be working with Eric and his incredibly talented team as they blaze new trails and navigate toward market leadership in this increasingly dynamic and important market."

"Mapping and location capabilities are key to democratizing the ability to access earth's data," said Ira Ehrenpreis, Managing Partner at DBL Partners. "Mapbox enables the proliferation of sensors and other data to monitor our planet.  From microsatellites, to drones, to IOT-devices, any type of data flow can be processed on the Mapbox platform in real-time to create a rich, personalized solution for its developers.  Mapbox's geolocation solution is creating a healthier and more accessible planet.  The company and its culture also play a critical role in providing imagery and analysis for disaster relief, crisis response, and environmental monitoring, all of which are reflective of the company's core focus on mission and impact."

Over 100 million unique users used Mapbox-built maps last month. The company is developer focused, has 5,000 paying platforms like Pinterest, Etsy, Evernote and Github, and has a vibrant developer community. Last month almost 50,000 active developers were building on the Mapbox platform.  Mapbox is committed to developing more than the best mapping platform: Mapbox embraces open source, invests in open data communities, and pushes to make a positive impact every step of the way.

About Mapbox
Mapbox is a mapping platform for developers. Our building blocks make it easy to integrate location into any mobile or online application. Mapbox is the foundation for other platforms, letting enterprises analyze their data, drone companies publish flyovers, real estate sites visualize properties, satellite companies process cloud-free imagery, and insurance companies track assets. Mapbox is an open source company, building our product with open source parts and releasing as much code as possible. Founded in 2010, Mapbox has offices in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., and is backed by leading investors. Learn more at Mapbox.com.

About DFJ
DFJ is a venture capital firm that partners with extraordinary entrepreneurs who set out to change the world. Since 1985, DFJ's core funds have raised $4 billion, which has been deployed in more than 300 portfolio investments, including Baidu, Box, Foursquare, Skype, SolarCity, SpaceX, Tesla Motors, Twitter, Tumblr and Yammer. DFJ works with companies at seed, early and growth stages, with the goal of creating iconic and lasting businesses. DFJ invests in emerging markets including consumer, enterprise, and disruptive technologies. Learn more at dfj.com. 

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SOURCE Mapbox.com