--- title: 'Mapbox — company profile' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/companies/mapbox' type: 'company' updated: '2026-07-02' --- # Mapbox > Global location platform providing maps, navigation, search, and real-time location data for developers and enterprises. - **Website:** https://www.mapbox.com - **Type:** Private (Series E) - **Headquarters:** Washington, DC, USA - **Founded:** 2010 - **Founders:** Eric Gundersen, Mikel Maron, Alex Barth, Will White, Tom MacWright - **Valuation:** $1.3B - **Total raised:** $507M - **Latest round:** Series E · $280M · 2023 - **Investors:** SoftBank Group, SoftBank Vision Fund, Foundry Group, DFJ Growth, DBL Partners, Thrive Capital, True Ventures, Glynn Capital, Atomico - **Business model:** Developer platform (B2B / B2D) - **Industries:** Infrastructure - **Open roles:** 62 - **Profile:** https://feeny.ai/companies/mapbox ## What they do Mapbox is a developer-first location platform. It provides the APIs, SDKs, and datasets teams use to build custom maps, turn-by-turn navigation, geocoding and search, and live traffic and movement data into their own web, mobile, and in-vehicle applications. ## Overview **The location layer behind the maps you already use** Mapbox started in 2010 because a small team building maps for the UN, the World Bank, and Doctors Without Borders could not find tools good enough to do the work. So they built their own. Fifteen years later that side project is a global location platform, and more than 4 million registered developers plug into it for maps, navigation, search, and live location data. The pitch has always been control. Where Google Maps hands you a finished tile, Mapbox hands you the pieces and lets you style, host, and route on your own terms. That developer-first stance won it a $280 million Series E led by SoftBank in 2023 and a $1.3 billion valuation, and it is now spending that money on two bets at once: putting maps inside cars, and making them answer questions in plain language. ## What They Do **Maps, routing, search, and the data that feeds them** Mapbox sells the raw location stack that other companies build products on top of. Developers use its APIs and SDKs to render custom maps, calculate turn-by-turn routes, geocode addresses, and pull in live traffic, all through a single account. The data underneath is the moat. Mapbox says its traffic and movement datasets draw on a user base north of 700 million monthly active users, so the ETAs and road speeds are continually re-checked against real driving rather than modeled once and left alone. ## Problems **When a generic map is not good enough to ship on** Plenty of apps can drop a pin. The hard part is everything after that: styling a map to match a brand, routing a delivery fleet efficiently, keeping navigation working offline, and doing all of it without shipping user data to an ad company. Mapbox exists for teams that hit those walls. That is why its customers cluster in industries where the map is the product, not decoration. Automotive OEMs need embedded navigation that runs in a dashboard. Logistics fleets need accurate ETAs and dispatch. Consumer apps need maps that load fast and look like they belong. ### Problems addressed - Building a branded, custom-styled map instead of a generic one - Efficient routing and accurate ETAs for delivery and logistics fleets - Embedding turn-by-turn navigation inside vehicles and apps - Keeping maps working offline for mobile apps - Adding location without handing user data to an ad-funded platform ## Who It's For **Built for developers who want to own the map, not rent it** Mapbox is a developer-first, B2B business. The buyers are engineering and product teams at automotive companies, delivery and logistics fleets, retail and travel apps, and enterprise software vendors who need location baked deep into what they ship. The common thread is a team that wants control and cares about data privacy, and that has enough volume for usage-based pricing to make sense. It is less of a fit for someone who just needs a static map and a marker, which Google does more cheaply out of the box. ### Ideal customer profiles - **Automotive OEM teams** — Embedding reliable in-car navigation and infotainment; Shipping 3D and EV-aware navigation experiences - **Logistics / fleet operators** — Optimizing routes and dispatch; Accurate live ETAs across large fleets - **App developers** — Custom-styled, fast-loading maps; Offline support and privacy control ## Products **One account, six ways to put location in your app** The platform splits into a handful of building blocks that share the same data and billing. Maps and Studio handle rendering and design, Navigation covers routing and turn-by-turn, Search does geocoding and place lookup, and Data sells the underlying datasets outright. The newer pushes are AI and self-hosting. Location AI turns maps conversational through a set of geospatial agents, and Atlas lets regulated or air-gapped customers run the whole stack on their own infrastructure. ## Business Model **Pay-as-you-go metered by users and trips** Mapbox makes money on usage, not seats. Most products bill per monthly active user or per API call, with a free tier meant to get developers building before they ever talk to sales. Volume discounts kick in automatically as usage grows, and annual commitments knock the rate down further. The published Navigation SDK numbers give the shape of it: free up to the first 100 monthly active users, then $0.30 per user, plus a per-trip fee that starts at $0.08 and drops with scale. Big enterprise and automotive deals move to custom contracts. ### Plans Mapbox bills on usage rather than seats. Most products are metered by monthly active users (MAU) or API requests, with a free tier on most products so developers can build before contacting sales. Volume discounts apply automatically as usage grows, and annual commitments earn additional discounts. High-volume enterprise and automotive customers move to custom contracts. - **Pay-as-you-go** — Free to start · Developers and growing apps Meaningful free tiers on most products, then metered by MAU and API usage - Free tier on most products - Metered per monthly active user (MAU) - Metered per API request / per trip - Automatic volume discounts as usage grows - Navigation SDK example: free up to 100 MAU, then $0.30/MAU - Navigation SDK example: per-trip fee from $0.08, dropping with scale - **Annual commitment** — Custom · Committed and enterprise customers Additional discounts in exchange for an annual commitment - Additional discounts over pay-as-you-go rates - Contact sales for volume and enterprise pricing Good to know: Free tier available on most products; Volume discounts apply automatically, no negotiation required; Annual commitments earn extra discounts; Contact sales for high-volume and automotive pricing ## Competition **The customizable, privacy-friendly answer to Google Maps** Mapbox competes head-on with the Google Maps Platform, and against HERE, TomTom, and open-source OpenStreetMap stacks. Its edge is design control and data ownership: Studio remains the most capable map-design tool developers point to, and Mapbox gives more say over user data than Google does. The tradeoff is honest. Mapbox usually takes more setup than Google for a simple map, and Google has deeper points-of-interest data. Where Mapbox tends to win is at higher volume, where reviewers put it roughly a third cheaper than Google, and in verticals like automotive where a rented, ad-funded map is a non-starter. ### Their edge - **Design control** — Studio gives developers pixel-level cartographic control that reviewers call the most capable no-code map-design tool in the industry. - **Data ownership and privacy** — Mapbox does not sell personal data and gives teams more control over user data than ad-funded map platforms. - **Cost at scale** — Reviewers put Mapbox roughly a third cheaper than Google Maps at higher volumes on usage-based pricing. - **Self-hosting** — Atlas lets regulated customers run the full stack on their own infrastructure, which the hyperscaler map platforms do not offer. ### Where they're betting - GeoAI and conversational maps - Automotive / embedded in-car navigation - Developer ecosystem and SDKs ## Proof **Who ships on Mapbox, and what it moves for them** The customer list runs from carmakers to news desks. BMW, MINI, Toyota, and General Motors use Mapbox for in-car navigation, Instacart routes deliveries on it, and CNN builds breaking-news visualizations with it. The case studies put numbers on the payoff: Tripadvisor reported a 70% jump in engagement, Kraken Technologies made field engineers 88% more efficient with optimized routing, and a Japanese fleet rolled Mapbox navigation out across 23,000 taxis. ## What People Say **Loved for control and docs, knocked for a steeper start** Developers consistently praise the same things: pixel-level design control through Studio, well-organized documentation with real code samples, solid offline support, and a genuinely generous free tier. Privacy-conscious teams like that they keep more control over user data. The recurring gripe is the on-ramp. Mapbox usually takes more initial setup than Google Maps for basic use, and Google still wins on out-of-the-box points-of-interest depth. The heavier automotive focus also reads to some as a company steering toward big OEM deals over hobbyists. ## Funding **$280M from SoftBank and a $1.3B valuation to grow into** Mapbox has raised roughly half a billion dollars across its life, and SoftBank has been the anchor twice. The Vision Fund led a $164 million Series C in 2017, and SoftBank Group came back to lead a $280 million Series E in September 2023 that valued the company at about $1.3 billion. The Series E thesis was explicit: pour money into AI location services and push deeper into automotive. Earlier backers include Foundry Group, DFJ Growth, DBL, Thrive, True Ventures, Glynn Capital, and Atomico. ## Team & Culture **For builders, by builders, spread across four continents** Mapbox describes itself as engineering-driven and builder-first, a place for people who would rather make the tool than wait for one. The team is distributed by design, with people in the US, Helsinki, Minsk, Germany, and Japan, and the company leans remote-friendly. The values pages hit the usual notes about whole selves at work and a diverse team, but the through-line that shows up in the job posts is real: data-informed decisions, high talent density, and a bias toward shipping. Its roots in humanitarian mapping still color the social-impact and volunteer benefits. ## Compensation **US engineering bands that run well into six figures** Mapbox discloses pay on many of its US roles, all in dollars. Engineering is where the volume is, with disclosed base bands stretching from the low $60Ks for junior work up past $260K for senior leadership, and a VP of Engineering post listed $290K to $380K in base alone. Other functions show up thinner in the data: a product role in the low-to-mid $200Ks, an operations role around $143K to $193K, and G&A near the top of the range. Base is only part of the picture, and roles generally layer equity and benefits on top. ## Security & Legal **Runs on AWS, does not sell your data** Mapbox, Inc. is the registered entity, and the platform runs on regional AWS origins across nine regions and five continents, fronted by an edge network in 60-plus locations for low-latency delivery. Engineers are on call around the clock, databases run redundant across regions, and much of the software is open source and open to security review. On data, the privacy policy is direct: Mapbox does not sell personal data, tracks monthly active users for billing only, and deletes IP addresses after 30 days. Compliance spans GDPR, CCPA, Japan's APPI, and the EU-US, UK-US, and Swiss-US Data Privacy Frameworks. ## In the News **Chasing GeoAI and a seat in the dashboard** The recent headlines split cleanly between money and machines. SoftBank's 2023 Series E was the financial event, and the story since has been Mapbox betting the proceeds on AI and cars. In the last year it has shipped Location AI and a family of geospatial agents, previewed 3D Lanes and a self-hosted Atlas v3, and announced at CES 2026 that Toyota's navigation on the 2026 RAV4 is built on Mapbox. Its own blog frames 2026 as the year location becomes a built-in tool inside major LLMs. ### Coverage - [Mapbox Secures $280M Series E Funding Led by SoftBank](https://www.mapbox.com/blog/mapbox-announces-series-e-funding) — Mapbox Blog (2023-09-19) - [SoftBank leads Mapbox fundraising as it pushes into AI](https://www.mapbox.com/press-releases/softbank-leads-mapbox-fundraising-as-it-pushes-into-ai) — Financial Times (2023-09-19) - [GeoAI in 2026: Four predictions on agents, MCP, and live data](https://www.mapbox.com/blog/geoai-in-2026-four-predictions-on-agents-mcp-and-live-data) — Mapbox Blog (2026) - [Mapbox at CES 2026: driving geospatial innovation across industries](https://www.mapbox.com/ces) — Mapbox (2026) - [Maps turn conversational: introducing Mapbox Location Agent](https://www.mapbox.com/blog/maps-turn-conversational) — Mapbox Blog (2025) - [Introducing Mapbox Atlas v3: self-hosted maps without the infrastructure burden](https://www.mapbox.com/blog/introducing-mapbox-atlas-v3-self-hosted-maps-without-the-infrastructure-burden) — Mapbox Blog (2026) - [Mapbox 2025: A year of growth, community, and new ideas](https://www.mapbox.com/blog/mapbox-2025-a-year-of-growth-community-and-new-ideas) — Mapbox Blog (2025) ## Outlook **Two bets: put maps in every car, and make them talk** Mapbox has picked its lanes. One is automotive, where design wins with BMW, Toyota, and GM turn into embedded navigation that ships with the vehicle. The other is GeoAI, where the wager is that maps stop being something you look at and become something you ask. Both play to the same underlying strength, a live location dataset fed by hundreds of millions of users, and both are why SoftBank keeps writing checks. The open question is whether a developer platform can win the AI-agent race against the same hyperscalers it already competes with on maps. ## Company details - **Mission:** To power navigation for people, packages, and vehicles everywhere. - **Products:** Mapbox Maps & Studio, Mapbox Navigation, Mapbox Search, Mapbox Data, Mapbox Location AI, Mapbox Atlas (Self-Hosted) - **Notable customers:** BMW, MINI, Toyota, General Motors, Hyundai AutoEver, Instacart, Tripadvisor, CNN, Picnic, Kraken Technologies, REVER, Getaways by Southwest, Omnia Fishing, ParkBee, Foursquare, Lonely Planet, Financial Times, The Weather Channel - **Customer segments:** Automotive, Logistics & delivery, Retail, Travel, Media, Enterprise software, Consumer apps, Developers - **Buyers / users:** Developers, Engineering leaders, Product managers, Automotive OEM teams, Logistics / fleet operators - **Competitors:** Google Maps Platform, HERE, TomTom, OpenStreetMap - **What sets them apart:** Pixel-level map customization via Mapbox Studio; Data ownership and privacy control versus ad-funded rivals; Proprietary, continuously validated traffic and movement data; Self-hosted (Atlas) option for regulated and air-gapped customers; Roots in humanitarian and open-source mapping - **Tech stack:** AWS, OpenStreetMap, Vector tiles, Anycast DNS, Mapbox GL JS - **Integrations:** HERE, TomTom, OpenStreetMap, Unity, Model Context Protocol (MCP) ## Open roles (62) - [Tax Manager](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/6876699d-7604-47e1-a089-469a29b60f36) — Mapbox, United States - [RAVE I, Data Enrichment](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/e6a07447-be6f-4456-9eb8-accf279b914e) — Minsk, Belarus - [Software Development Engineer II, Nav Native](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/699de43d-2302-492a-a063-6290fc6a3282) — Mapbox, Germany - [Software Development Engineer II, Search Data](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/ec9de2dd-0aab-4c5b-99b6-c2fd402b3e9c) — Mapbox, United States - [Software Development Engineer III, Telemetry](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/dfeb1598-b717-427b-9da3-7caaef670eb9) — Mapbox, Germany - [Senior/Lead Software Data Engineer (Roads Team)](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/bb7afe25-3ec3-4d96-8597-2bad2cf475c8) — Mapbox, Poland - [Senior Business Development Manager, Automotive](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/521994b0-cd96-4c24-b622-6d965e515cde) — Mapbox, Japan - [Senior/Staff Software Development Engineer, EV Platform](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/4aa53184-caef-40ee-aed8-34b6e1f99c23) — Remote - [Senior Manager, Driver Operations](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/45ad59ca-3bed-4089-bf19-31637156c5d1) — Remote - [Solutions Architect, Automotive/Enterprise (Korean Speaking)](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/0c187d0d-7e51-46fd-9ab2-65bafb5638f2) — Remote - [RAVE I, Feedback and Corrections (Road Closures)](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/7853b60f-b898-40e2-8db2-9ca104d10fe3) — Minsk, Belarus - [Software Development Engineer II (Fullstack), Studio](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/f23aeaf4-cb71-406c-933b-8c4a8086f7bb) — Helsinki, Finland - [Software Development Engineer III, Android, Maps SDK](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/ed5ea787-aa68-4968-9c93-eb4d2bd5ac45) — Remote - [Solutions Architect, Automotive/Enterprise (Korean Speaking)](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/5eed80f2-dceb-4e9b-a355-f4ab3733410e) — Remote - [Senior Account Executive](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/0fefd6a4-d43e-4ad9-ade2-dd40f4927e8f) — Mapbox, Japan - [HR administration specialist / Lawyer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/7369392e-92c0-4b73-9893-a4e631d25e70) — Minsk, Belarus - [Manager, Revenue Accounting](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/60bfca10-1b73-4cd3-8564-c56f3f96f269) — Remote - [Software Development Engineer III, Logistics API](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/f9447a7c-34bc-499e-88eb-49d4c8fa61c3) — Remote - [Product Manager III, Navigation](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/029bda44-667c-4aed-8a11-7499df34a4a0) — Mapbox, United States - [Partner Development Manager](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/c5e77a88-149a-4ec3-8542-27a5266ac445) — Mapbox, Japan - [Manager, Data Services Operations](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/301d285c-4be0-4b44-8afb-a52c800ab58c) — Minsk, Belarus - [Associate General Counsel - Product/Commercial](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/66373335-e6c7-478b-8900-eb054b305f0f) — Remote - [Software Development Engineer I, Android, Navigation SDK](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/47b54e9f-90b1-4554-a7ad-b66b288463ca) — Minsk, Belarus - [Senior/Lead Software Data Engineer (Roads Team)](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/7ff763e7-5a55-4bed-9afe-eacd9833b39a) — Remote - [Senior Software Development Engineer (Data Engineer), HD Core](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/cfe4732b-d176-43e3-acc1-6df476787d3f) — Minsk, Belarus - [Software Development Engineer II, Search](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/f287033e-0b09-4f60-9b97-447b490757fb) — Remote - [VP of Engineering, Navigation](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/88562003-7953-48f8-8ca0-55bcc897d875) — Mapbox, United States - [Software Development Engineer II, Telemetry](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/b40dfe27-4d6d-472c-9775-84161793f71f) — Mapbox, Poland - [RAVE I, HD Maps](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/f5cafe40-af4e-41bd-82ec-4ff243399ad2) — Minsk, Belarus - [RAVE I (24/7), Feedback and Corrections (Road Closures)](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/684705df-34f6-4dd9-b12a-dbdb3bcf81be) — Minsk, Belarus - [Software Development Engineer III, Telemetry](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/7ee93e2b-badd-4c83-9f86-e71507173388) — Mapbox, Poland - [Software Development Engineer II, Search Box](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/06de472b-6738-4e32-8a44-836ce5a174c0) — Remote - [Principal Technical Program Manager, Automotive](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/764d1462-1786-45c4-ada0-e3f893a269bd) — Mapbox, Germany - [Technical Support Engineer III](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/219d4354-3f7d-40f9-b556-fbee304b8137) — Remote - [Security Engineer II](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/088c744c-bc52-42b0-8dd8-b1b42e9960f6) — Helsinki, Finland - [Solutions Architect, Enterprise](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/ed7fc29b-9fa3-4649-b592-fd8114a940da) — Remote - [Software Development Engineer II, Android, Navigation SDK](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/9c7a09b2-901a-46a5-aa72-8b045e5ec6c7) — Minsk, Belarus - [Software Development Engineer III, Android, Navigation SDK](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/d995725e-e0ee-4fac-a465-521187fc402d) — Helsinki, Finland - [Senior/Lead Software Data Engineer (Roads Team)](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/37138a81-9dbb-4653-8c1f-82d6da8d0c14) — Remote - [Software Development Engineer II, 3D Graphics](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/c6458cbf-af97-4111-8454-9e9665fc0ed8) — Helsinki, Finland - [Software Development Engineer II, 3D Graphics](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/200afde4-db98-4e5d-ad4e-bb41060aec65) — Mapbox, Germany - [Field Testing Specialist, Driver Operations](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/25adb9cf-8f19-4fbb-93d7-4317163b2313) — Mapbox, United States - [Software Development Engineer II (Full-stack Engineer)](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/2effa711-447d-4657-a3d7-279e38ccd52d) — Helsinki, Finland - [Software Development Engineer II, Navigation, Traffic](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/653738b6-fe31-4d9e-959e-30442e4e8495) — Remote - [Software Development Engineer III, Routing Cost](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/68902057-1457-44cd-9f4b-8d53a0ec1daa) — Mapbox, Germany - [Software Development Engineer II, Guidance](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/ae56dba8-33bb-4b22-8ae7-7e95d511bfdc) — Mapbox, United States - [Software Development Engineer II, Nav Native](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/4d9b01b0-9257-4519-abc1-d9fa44f71082) — Minsk, Belarus - [Engineering Manager, Nav SDK, iOS](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/2cd7dda7-578c-4ce7-9454-f4a4dc9bc1ab) — Helsinki, Finland - [Software Development Engineer III, Navigation Incidents](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/1de69702-386e-4679-adee-70531f477d33) — Mapbox, United States - [Software Development Engineer II, Search](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/mapbox/cdc7cf98-5ec0-4a0b-a78f-bb3eb0e8b40f) — Mapbox, United States _…and 12 more at https://feeny.ai/companies/mapbox/jobs_ --- _Source: https://feeny.ai/companies/mapbox · profile updated 2026-07-02_