You could soon get paid in cryptocurrency for helping map your city.
Hivemapper Inc. is developing a mapping service with a blockchain spin. The San Francisco startup has developed a web camera designed to be installed on a car's windshield or dash. The camera will simultaneously take high-resolution photographs and collect navigational data.
The company plans to pay people who install its cameras and collect mapping data — as well as those who edit that data to make it usable — in Honey, a new cryptocurrency token. That makes Hivemapper's service distinct from OpenStreetMap, a longstanding open source mapping project, which relies on volunteer efforts.
"Using a simple dashcam, anyone can contribute mapping data to Hivemapper, which helps put underrepresented geographic regions on the map and keep them up to date," Ariel Seidman, the startup's co-founder and CEO, said in a news release.
The company plans to launch its camera device this July and sell it for $449. It's already taking pre-orders of the product.
Hivemapper now has some new funds to boost its efforts. It raised $18 million in Series A funding, it announced earlier this week. The company plans to use its new capital to publish its map, add more map contributors and ship its camera.
Here's more on its deal and other Series A funding news from this past week:
Enable Medicine Inc., Menlo Park, $60 million: Anthos Capital and General Catalyst led the round for this developer of a database of and search engine for biological data. Initialized Capital, Breyer Capital, Presight Capital and Axial also invested.
Boba Network Inc., Palo Alto, $45 million: Paris Hilton, Tony Robbins, Joe Montana and other celebrities invested in this provider of a service that helps users develop decentralized apps and transfer non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, on the ethereum blockchain. Crypto.com and M13 also participated in the round.
InvestorFlow LLC, Palo Alto, $30 million: Ambina Partners invested in this developer of portfolio management software that fund managers can offer to their clients. The startup also announced it's merging with Cloud Theory Inc., New York City-based provider of customer relationship management software for asset managers and investment banks.
Evernow Inc., San Francisco, $28.5 million: New Enterprise Associates led the round for this provider of telehealth services for people experiencing menopause. 8VC, Refactor Capital, Coelius Capital, and actors Gwyneth Paltrow, Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz also invested.
Rattle Software Inc. (dba Rattle), San Francisco, $26 million: Insight Partners led the round for this developer of sales software that connects to Slack and Salesforce. GV, Sequoia Capital India and Lightspeed Venture Partners also invested.
Kumo.AI Inc., San Francisco, $18.5 million: Sequoia Capital led the round for this provider of artificial intelligence-powered data analysis software. Other investors included A Capital, SV Angel, Ron Conway, Circle Chief Technology Officer Li Fan and dbt Labs CEO Tristan Hardy.
Hivemapper Inc., San Francisco, $18 million: Multicoin Capital led the round for this developer of a mapping service that pays contributors with the Honey cryptocurrency token. Craft Ventures, Solana Capital, Shine Capital, 75 and Sunny Ventures, Spark Capital, Founder Collective and Homebrew also invested.
Cottage Technologies Inc. (dba Cottage), San Francisco, $15 million: Fifth Wall led the round for this provider of a service that connects homeowners with contractors who build accessory dwelling units, or ADUs.
KarmaCheck Inc., San Francisco, $15 million: Velvet Sea Ventures led the round for this provider of an artificial intelligence-powered background check service for employers. Parameter Ventures, One Way Ventures, NextView Ventures and Dash Fund also invested.
True Technologies Inc. (dba Antimatter), Oakland, $12 million: New Enterprise Associates led the round for this provider of data security services. General Catalyst and Union Labs also invested.
Docyt Inc., Santa Clara, $11.5 million: Lobby Capital led the round for this developer of accounting automation software for small- and medium-sized businesses. First Rays Venture Partners and Morado Ventures also invested.
Feasible Inc. (dba Liminal), Emeryville, $8 million: Good Growth Capital and the University of Tokyo Edge Capital led the round for this developer of a data analysis service that uses ultrasonic pulses and machine learning to inspect car batteries. Volta Energy Technologies, Helios Capital Ventures and Impact Science Ventures, Chrysalix Ventures, Elemental Excelerator and Incite.org also invested.
