What is HiveMapper?
“Mapping Startup Hivemapper Raises $18M to Give Maps the Web 3 Treatment”(Coindesk, 2022)
Content:General Information-What is HiveMapper
HiveMapper Background
HiveMapper Funding/Advisors/Founder
Additional Information-
How to Earn $HONEY (Drive-to-Earn)
Tokenomics
Closing Thoughts
General Information-
What Is HiveMapper
HiveMapper is a decentralized, constantly updating map that is reliant on dash-cams. The dash-cams are utilized by people and will soon mine a cryptocurrency called $HONEY. A driver may buy one of the dash-cams from HiveMapper’s official site and drive-to-earn for $HONEY tokens. HiveMapper confirmed that all dash-cams orders will be fulfilled in late 2022. Drivers are also required to download the “HiveMapper App” so they can set up and track their mining rewards. The dash-cam records in 4k and is automatically updating the map as one is driving. HiveMappers believes that mapping should be decentralized and censorship-free from monopolies that take our data for free.
Figure A
2. HiveMapper Background
Today billions of people are reliant upon maps and professionals use them on a day-to-day basis. According to a recent study, maps represent a 300 billion dollar market. HiveMapper was created to solve the following problems. 1. Lack Of Decentralization - Most maps are amended by big companies to satisfy the request of wealthy government agents or sometimes business owners. 2. Expensive API costs - Today there is no competition for mapping APIs so HiveMapper has a strong opportunity to disrupt this market. 3. Non-Clear Coverage - Most maps are not as clear or concise as they should be, making maps expensive to develop and sustain. For these simple reasons, HiveMapper has stepped in to solve these issues with the blockchain. Rewarding drivers $HONEY tokens and then selling the APIs to businesses makes it a win-win for everyone in the business per Figure B. This business model reminds me of Helium, which makes it mutually beneficial for all parties involved.
Figure B
3. HiveMapper Funding/Advisors/Founder
HiveMapper Inc. is a company based out of San Francisco in 2015 and was founded by Ariel Seidman. HiveMapper has been through funding rounds with the following firm: Spark Capital, Multicoin Capital, Craft, Shine Capital, Solana Ventures, and Founder Collective. HiveMapper was able to raise a total of $21 million in 3-rounds. Additionally, HiveMapper has notable backers involved in the project. Amir Haleem is the founder of Helium($HNT) who has had great success building out an ecosystem like HiveMapper. Two other prominent figures are Raj Gokal and Anatoly Yakovenko who co-founded Solana($SOL) accordingly. Lastly, there are executives like Jaron Waldman and Spencer Rascoff who have relevant experience with maps. All in all, it's safe to assume that HiveMapper has a great advisory board and is set up to accomplish big things.
Figure C
Additional Information-
How-To-Earn $HONEY (Drive-To-Earn)
HiveMapper’s ecosystem rewards drivers with webcams for each tile they cover. In the image below, you will see a tile that is shaded and unshaded. For each tile that a driver covers with the webcam, they earn $HONEY tokens in return. 40% of the supply is allocated to drivers to earn for their contributions, although no information has been released regarding how much $HONEY a driver may earn per tile. It is important to note that once an area is fully covered the rewards diminish. However, areas that have not been shaded tend to offer more rewards than shaded areas. So if one decides to drive to earn, then he/she should consider looking at the map explorer to see what opportunities may lie ahead in their area.
Figure D
2. Tokenomics
$HONEY is the native token for the HiveMapper protocol. $HONEY is a token that lives on the Solana blockchain and has not been released to the public yet. For the supply there is a total of 10 billion $HONEY tokens. 20% of the supply is allocated to investors who provide startup capital, 20% to the employees at HiveMapper Inc, 15% of the supply is for providing ongoing security and technology, 5% is allocated to the foundation to govern the success of the network, and the remaining 40% is allocated to drivers who contribute to the ecosystem. $HONEY also has a burn and mint equilibrium just like $HNT, which means the tokens are burned to interact with the network. Additionally, the number of tokens released will decrease every 2 years by 40%. As the map coverage progresses, so will the rewards which would mean that the schedule will slowly decline aiming to give the network a long and healthy growth.
Figure E
Closing Thoughts
Without a doubt, HiveMapper has created the best business model surrounding a token. Does that line sound familiar? It should because it reminds me exactly of how $HNT miners are incentivized for mining via their hotspots, and Helium the company is selling the coverage to entities. HiveMapper is essentially doing the same thing, except in maps. HiveMapper creates a win-win situation for all included in the ecosystem. HiveMapper “miners” are incentivized for driving, and HiveMapper Inc will sell the map APIs to other entities. Today, map APIs are expensive and HiveMapper is going to change that because they understand how to utilize the blockchain to reduce friction. There are still some things that are unclear like token supply schedules or venture capitalist lockups. So I encourage readers to follow the HiveMapper Twitter page with notifications for the latest updates. Lastly, while I am excited to watch what HiveMapper will do next, it doesn’t mean it's correlated to the value of the $HONEY token.