As MapmyIndia makes its public debut today, here's a look at its 26-year-old journey

In 1995, Rakesh Kumar Verma and Rashmi Verma set out to build a digital map product to be provided “as a service”. Hence, C.E. Info Systems, better known as MapmyIndia, began its journey.

At present, the Delhi-headquartered company offers digital maps, geospatial software, and location-based Internet of Things (IoT) technologies as SaaS (Software-as-a-Service), PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service), and MaaS (Maps-as-a-Service) in India.

And today, on December 21, 2021, MapmyIndia is ready to make its public debut. Its Rs 1,040-crore initial public offering (IPO) has already been oversubscribed by 154.71 times at the end of December 13 after it opened for subscription on December 9.

The company has priced its shares between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,033 per share, and it will list on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) today. 

We take a look back at the journey of MapmyIndia, a homegrown company that competes with the likes of Google Maps and ESRI, and is also profitable. 

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1995: MapmyIndia’s humble beginnings

After returning from the US, co-founders Rakesh Verma and Rashmi Verma wanted to do “something unique,  something different, that could make a difference to India in general, and also could bring out some innovative things for the country”. They founded MapmyIndia after considering the various use-cases of digital maps across industries. 

“Our belief was strong that 90 percent of any data would have a location component,” Rakesh said, “With that belief, we moved forward and started and took up this challenging opportunity to digitally map our country — such a vast and complex country (from the geography perspective).”

The duo collected data from the ground up, built the processes and technologies to digitally map, acquire data from the ground, process it, productise it, and disseminate it through all sorts of applications.

2004: Launched India’s internet mapping portal

It took the company nearly 10 years to get the digital-map product ready and take it to businesses and the government. MapmyIndia launched its digital mapping portal and internet mapping technologies. 

2007: A pan-India GPS system

In 2007, the company launched a pan-India GPS navigation system. After 12 years of bootstrapping, the founders raised Series A investment of Rs 5.676 crore and Series B investment of Rs 10.697 crore. 

Around this time, the company launched its in-car GPS navigation device, a technology that would be used by several automotive companies. 

2008: Another round of funding

MapmyIndia raised its Series C funding led by Qualcomm Ventures, which invested Rs 23.561 crore. The company’s Series A and Series B investors further added Rs 9.374 crore and Rs 9.452 crore respectively as well. 

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2011: Launched IoT (GPS-based telematics) platform

In 2011, MapmyIndia launched an IoT and GPS-based telematics platform. It then upgraded this to a  fleet management solution, logistics optimisation, workforce management, and transportation technologies.

The company also raised a Series D round of funding from Zenrin at Rs 72.399 crore. 

2015: Launched map and location API platform for developers

MapmyIndia launched a map and location API platform for developers, which allowed enterprises to embed it in applications. This opened up opportunities for the product to be included in technological stacks. 

It also raised Rs 9.759 crore from Flipkart in a Series E round. Read more here (Flipkart transferred its entire shareholding to its subsidiary PhonePe Singapore as of March 12, 2021).

2017: AI-powered 4D HD digital map twin

The company began working on Artificial Intelligence(AI)-powered 4-dimensional high-definition digital maps, like a twin of the real world. These high definition maps, with high granularity, were updated in near real-time using analytics and AI. 

This year, MapMyIndia also launched a nationwide unique digital address and location, eLoc. The company also set a target for a revenue of Rs 1,000 crore by 2023. Read more here.

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2019:  Launched geospatial analytics and GIS platform, mobility suite 

Rohan Verma, son of Rakesh and Rashmi, took over the company as CEO in April. 

MapmyIndia launched geospatial and GIS (Geographic information system) analytics data analytics platform to provide for advanced B2B applications to increase its ability to help enterprises digitally transform through the power of geospatial. 

For automotive customers, it launched not just a navigation or not just a telematics platform, but an end to end N-CASE mobility suite for navigation, connected vehicle, telematics, connected services, data safety, shared mobility, and electric mobility platform to help our original equipment manufacturers. 

The company also launched a super app, MapmyIndia Move, by combining the power of digital mapping, IoT, tracking, telematics, and the best of location tech.

2020: App Innovation Challenge

MapmyIndia Move won Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge in the Others category for its unique indigenous solution for ensuring hyperlocal discovery.

2021: MoUs and road to IPO 

MapmyIndia signed a MoU with the Department of Space, Government of India for exchange of select geospatial services and APIs. 

The company reported a profit of Rs 59.4 crore in FY 2021, growing 156.2 percent over FY 2020. Over the last three years, its profit grew at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.98 percent.