Hong Kong: Hong Kong-based venture capital fund Beyond Ventures is spearheading a US$3 million investment project to benefit Mapxus, one of Apple’s Indoor Mapping Data Format (IMDF) platform service providers.
Founded by an impassioned team of professors, tech professionals and entrepreneurs, Mapxus contributes to the development of a smart city by making indoor mapping simple for all stakeholders.
The funding will serve the start-up company’s research and development (R&D), sales, marketing and operational functions, while facilitating expansion from Hong Kong into Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Solutions from Hong Kong-based Mapxus produce digital and panoramic indoor maps to facilitate a cross-platform indoor-positioning capability. This helps enterprises to benefit from the full potential of applications via use of the Mapxus Software Development Kit. Mapxus also provides a seamless data integration service, and updates Apple Maps using the Apple Indoor Map Data Format (IMDF).
Mapxus founder and CEO John Chan said: “We have a clear vision of how to create a smart city by working closely with government bodies, shopping malls, transport utilities, hospitals and other entities. The idea is to facilitate creation of a barrier-free smart city and catalyze a variety of stakeholders to develop meaningful mobile applications that will solve problems for people with, and without, disabilities.”
He explained how the company integrates technologies such as universal WiFi-fingerprinting, sensor fusion and artificial intelligence (AI) to develop smart city solutions for citizens requiring facilities typified by easy access for the visually impaired.
Lap Man, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Beyond Ventures, said: “Mapxus holds great potential and its management team possesses exactly the kind of skillsets required to help transform Hong Kong into a smart city. This fits well with the Beyond Ventures mission to invest in start-ups that will have positive impact on society locally.”
He explained how indoor mapping represents a nascent market and believes the concept of “an indoor version of Google Maps” envisioned by Mapxus holds the potential to become a global brand, once accepted by government bodies and the commercial sector.
Lap Man added: “The software-based infrastructure and hardware-free solutions crafted by Mapxus are able to bring together an indoor mapping community of government bodies, commercial organizations and social enterprises. The way the company already harnesses the capabilities of existing Wi-Fi infrastructure is able to reduce deployment costs by up to 90%.”
As well as being one of Apple’s Indoor Mapping Data Format (IMDF) platform service providers, Mapxus also developed and owns a compatible solution for the Android operating system and web Interface.
John Chan said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with a like-minded investor such as Beyond Ventures. Apart from providing us with financial support, they offer strategic advice and refer us to prospective clients, as well as other potential partners – all to help grow our business and serve the community using smart methodologies.
