Startup inspiration can strike anywhere. But for Atlas.co*, a freemium browser-based, real-time mapping tool that’s being built by an Oslo, Norway-based team of (initially student) engineers, the realization that there might be a business opportunity in competing with expensive legacy mapping software hit the founders during class.
“When we took introduction class to GIS [geographic information system], half of the class wasn’t able to download it because their computer didn’t meet the requirements of the software,” Fredrik Moger, CEO and co-founder, told TechCrunch. “That’s a barrier in general, right? And I think if you look… maybe 10 years back, Adobe kind of faced the same issue. And then Figma came on the field.”
Atlas wants to unlock the power of GIS data in a similar way, sidestepping the drag and cost of legacy software by offering a more flexible, user-friendly cloud-based collaboration platform and a software-as-a-service business model that starts at free and scales with usage.
Moger points to other cloud platforms — such as Airtable, Canva and Notion — as also providing the type of collaborative template it wants to bring to doing cool things with GIS data. While, on the legacy mapping side, he name-checks Esri as the main GIS platform competitor.
Google Maps also offers a custom maps features and an API for developers wanting to embed rich interactive maps elsewhere. Though it’s not a full GIS platform. So it is unlikely to be fully featured enough for the B2B users Atlas is going after.
Typical users so far include people working in renewable energy development, urban planning and real-estate, according to Moger. Journalists have also, perhaps unsurprisingly, been among its early users — as maps can be a powerful way to quickly convey information.
Making maps really easy
Running Atlas doesn’t require particularly powerful computer hardware, per Moger. Nor does software need to be downloaded and installed, as everything runs in the browser.
A tile rendering component the team built allows it to stream mapping data from its infrastructure to the user’s browser “very efficiently,” he suggests — and that in turn means no fancy hardware necessary.
On the user interface side, the goal is to maximize accessibility too, by designing a clean and modern software experience that’s easy to pick up. “[What] we are doing with GIS is making it available for everyone,” he said. “I think everyone should be able to build interactive maps and spatial apps really, really easily.”
Atlas was founded in 2021 when the founders were still at university. They bootstrapped during the early phase of the startup, opting to drop out of jobs they had lined up for after university to focus full-time on the startup. They launched the platform in June on Product Hunt. They’ve had close to 20,000 signups across 140+ countries, so far — mostly free users at this early stage, Moger confirms.
The main features currently include a builder tool that lets users build spatial maps and interactive dashboards. It supports data layering, too — where users can upload information to display on maps and use tools to visualize and style the data.
The software also provides spatial analysis tools for automating functionality such as proximity searches, data aggregation and density analysis. Real-time collaboration is baked in as well, with support for things like real-time cursor display to help teams work together on compiling visual location data.
The startup has just closed a $2 million pre-seed round to keep developing the product. So hiring more engineers is top of the team’s to-do list as they focus on continuing to expand Atlas’ feature set.
Moger suggests there’s a growing need for geospatial data analysis visual and storytelling — including as a result of the climate crisis. (One topical example is satellite maps of Valencia, Spain, that have been doing the rounds in the wake of the DANA storm flooding disaster earlier this month, showing before and after shots.)
“With all the climate change that is happening, and all the actions we need to do to fight climate change, a lot of new industries actually need to work more and more with geospatial data,” he suggested. “They currently don’t hold the competence and the skills to work with existing tools. And [those are the] new users or industries that we want to target. That’s who we want to enable to use and work with spatial data.”
Moger explained that, whereas previously only one person on a target team might have served as the in-house GIS expert skilled in using legacy software, the goal with Atlas is to enable multiple team members to collaborate on geospatial data.
The funding is led by European climate-focused VC fund Pale Blue Dot. Other “high profile” investors in the round include Ben Lang (early employee and ex-community lead at Notion), and Andreas Klinger (ex-CTO and founding team
at Product Hunt).
Commenting in a statement, Joel Larsson, partner at Pale Blue Dot, said: “Atlas.co is a significant step toward making spatial data accessible for essential causes like climate action. We’re excited to support a team that views maps not only as data tools but also as catalysts for environmental and social change.”
*Not to be confused with 3D generative AI tool Atlas; Atlas the works benefits tool for global companies; Atlassian’s teams software Atlas; Boston Dynamics’ Atlas the humanoid robot; or VC Sequoia’s interactive map of European tech talent, to name a few of myriad uses of Atlas the term in tech. So it might be time to retire this name tbh.