Israeli startup Mapme has reached a new goal, it announced Tuesday - raising $1 million dollars to continue its project to create an entirely new system of mapping in Israel and abroad.
Mapme builds a visual reference map around an "ecosystem" - a focal point such as, for example, kosher restaurants, hummus places, or startups in a particular area. The platform was launched by 21 year-old American-Israeli blogger Ben Lang, the founder of International Hummus Day and World Falafel Day.
“The ability for anyone to visually map an entire ecosystem just didn’t exist before, yet its value for both those within the community and those looking to get involved is enormous,” Lang, Mapme's Cofounder and CEO, stated. “We've had constant requests from communities and organizations around the world to build their own maps."
"It doesn’t matter whether it’s an ecosystem focused on tech, wine or hummus, Mapme is an extremely exciting, beneficial and comprehensive visualization, marketing and networking platform.”
Lang told Arutz Sheva that the project began with Mapped in Israel, the crowdsourced Israel Startup Map which provides reviews and information on the Jewish state's vast startup community.
"Hundreds of people reached out asking if they could create similar maps, which led to Mapme," he explained.
Mapme is already available in beta for 90 ecosystems in 30 countries, but Lang stated that he hopes the seed money will help the project expand.
Among the new projects in mind, Lang said Tuesday, include expanding MapMe to new arenas.
"We're looking to provide our platform to more verticals around the world," he explained. "Verticals we're interested in are education, health, food and a few others."
The platform, which is the first to be available to any organization, has also attracted attention of startup founders around the world.
”There are so many layers to a Startup ecosystem, from the investors looking for new opportunities to government initiatives to support startups, and even to co-working spaces and research centers," said Michael Guerin of Startup Ireland. "Mapme gave us the ability to connect all of these dots so that our community could better engage with each other, and those interested in supporting a growing startup ecosystem could receive a full and clear picture of what was happening in Ireland."
"Mapme has given us a major edge in how we interact with each other and promote our ecosystem to the rest of the world."