Bee Maps, a decentralized mapping mission utilizing Hivemapper, introduced Monday that it has raised $32 million in new funding to develop its international community of contributors and develop its infrastructure.
The spherical was led by Pantera Capital, LDA Capital, Borderless Capital and Ajna Capital, making it one of many largest funding within the Decentralized Bodily Infrastructure (DePin) sector this 12 months.
Bee Maps is an utility on the Hivemapper community, one of many largest distributed bodily infrastructure networks (DePINs) that target mapping information on Solana.
Hivemapper permits drivers to offer information via AI-enabled dashcams, detect real-time adjustments on the street (reminiscent of new indicators, detours, development areas on the street, and so on.) and shortly replace digital maps to maintain them correct. Bee Maps leverages this infrastructure by giving the native token $HONEY to contributors who accumulate street-level pictures.
The procurement highlights traders' sturdy willingness to Bee Maps' imaginative and prescient of real-time AI-powered maps. Over the previous few months, Bee Maps has partnered with main corporations reminiscent of Lyft and Volkswagen's Robotaxis Program to carry their map information to their platforms.
New capital shall be used to distribute extra units, strengthen AI fashions to course of and replace map options, and enhance incentives for contributors associated to $HONEY.
“With this funding, we’re accelerating international system deployment, increasing protection and strengthening our AI pipeline. The issue just isn’t demand, however provide,” Ariel Saidman, co-founder of Hivemapper, stated in a press launch shared with CoinDesk.
Bee Maps additionally rolls out Bee membership plans, lowering preliminary prices from almost $600 a month to only $19. Subscriptions bundle {hardware}, software program, and contributor perks in a single package deal, reducing the boundaries to new members becoming a member of the community.
Learn extra: Volkswagen ADMT makes use of Solana-based Hivemapper Bee Maps for driverless information
