Waterloo-based MappedIn, the makers of an interactive indoor navigation system that offers mobile app or touchscreen kiosk for shoppers, has announced an investment of $600,000 from the Federal Economic Development Agency (FedDev). The funding will assist the company to offer its technology in other languages to “commercialize and diversify sales of their indoor mapping software technology in North America and internationally.”
“Our Government continues to invest in jobs, growth and prosperity by supporting start-up and early-stage businesses. Companies like MappedIn are putting southern Ontario at the forefront of global interest,” said Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for FedDev Ontario.
Founded by three students in March 2011 (Hongwei Liu, Mitchell Butler, and Leander Lee), MappedIn creates individual apps, kiosks and full management suits for “indoor wayfinding” in Canadian malls and schools, allowing people to find their way from their smartphone. The company won the Velocity Fund Finals last year and secured a $25,000 grant. This latest investment is expected to create 48 new full-time positions and maintain 20 full-time positions and also add an additional eight jobs by 2017.
Hongwei Liu, co-founder and CEO of MappedIn, said, “At MappedIn, we focus everyday on helping our users better manage, deliver, and analyze their indoor spatial data. We are proud of our industry-leading technology and what we have accomplished already with our customers. With FedDev’s contribution, we are thrilled to have additional resources to accelerate our growth and engage new customers in new markets. It is a great privilege to be based here in southern Ontario.”