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."