The the decentralized mapping platform powered by Hi mapper is gaining traction across multiple industries.
New partnerships include Volkswagen, Lyft ForM Analytics, and NBC Universal, and interest is growing around how real-time spatial intelligence is being integrated.
Well joining me to talk about the impact of regulatory developments in Crypto and what clarity could actually mean for a Hivemapper and the broader deepen landscape is Ariel Simon, co-founder and CEO of Hivemapper.
Ariel, good morning.
Thank you so much for joining us and for coming back on the show.
So for our viewing audience out there, tell us about the strategic advantage that sets your company apart in such a competitive landscape.
Well, thank you for having me back.
Um, yeah, so the really core thing for us is freshness, right?
So, historically, the way that maps got built was, you, you know, many times, many of us see these Google Street View cars, right?
These Google Street View cars maybe map your specific road or, you know, a highway once a year at best, right?
Oftentimes more like 2 or 3 and sometimes even 4 or 5 years.
And so with our approach, which is really crowdsource where we build this device where anybody can deploy the device, you can put it in your car, you can put it in your truck, you know, it's great for Uber drivers, great for truckers, that type of stuff.
The freshness, the ability to constantly be updating that map with this real-time vision data combined with AI, that's what gives us the, the big advantage.
So we see a given location.
You know, 50 to 100 times per year, whereas Google Street View is maybe only seeing that same location once a year or every 2 or 3 years.
Yeah, and Ariel, you bring up an important point because sometimes when we Google a location on Google Maps and look at the image, then we notice that things may have changed since that image was captured.
So how are you actually balancing long-term innovation investments, especially given the need to deliver results for shareholders?
Yeah, so look, I mean, we, we really take advantage of this idea that we don't have to make these massive investments in these vehicles, right?
With Google, they have, you know, each of those Google Street View cars that you see, that's a half a million dollars dollar investment, right?
And then you got to pay for the driver, you got to pay for the gas, you got to pay for all this.
So what we're really saying is, look, we're integrated into the vehicle and into people's everyday lives. lives in a way that is very obvious for them, right?
We're providing real utility and so that enables us to take all of our dollars, right, all of our capital and invest it in actually all the AI that is sitting on that device and then pulling the data off of the device and creating really compelling products with customers around.
So it's really taking those dollars and using them in very different ways than historically.
You know, the mapping companies of of the of the last call a decade have been forced to utilize their capital.
Yeah, and Ariel, honey is the crypto token that HiveMappper uses on Solana.
So how do you plan on keeping contributors engaged, especially if token rewards fluctuate?
Yeah, that look, that is a challenge, right?
Crypto markets can move, um, you know, so I've never been in a place so far where, you know, when the token price is way up there, you know, people are very excited.
You know, and then, and then it drops and then it goes back up.
So we're constantly in this like fascinating roller coaster, right?
And so our job, look, is yes, we care about the token, we care about making sure that people are rewarded properly.
That is a big part of of what we're building, but also we want to make sure that we're providing. real value and real utility to the consumers and the businesses that are utilizing our device, right?
And so, you know, yeah, the token price could be down for a couple months here or there, but you're still deriving value from the device that you put into your car that you made that investment.
And so I think that's the balance that you have to play.
Um, in terms of the kind of the other aspect of this that has hurt, I think, not just honey tokens, quite frankly, but basically all deep in projects is the lack of regulatory clarity and hopefully that gets cleaned up here in the coming months.
Yeah, and speaking of what you just mentioned, regulatory clarity, and before we went on air, we're talking about how it's back to school season and it's also back to work for Congress as they return to Capitol Hill.
So with growing focus on regulatory clarity as well as market adoption, what are some milestones that investors should be watching for over the next 6 to 12 months?
Yeah, I mean, look, we're, we're very pleased with probably, you know, 80-90% of what we've seen so far and some of the bills that have come out and with the clarity bill out of the House bill.
There are some small modifications that we're, you know, we and many others are talking to Congress about in terms of making appropriate changes for what's referred to as decentralized physical infrastructure or deepen for short.
You know, we fall into that category, helium falls into that category, and it's very important that the laws that are coming out as part of this clarity bill make it very clear that when you're building this physical infrastructure, this decentralized physical infrastructure, That the devices that are being used are not actually securities, OK?
And so that's that's a very important aspect of it and you know, yes, that that exists and we would like to see some small language changes that make that abundantly clear in the clarity bell.
And so if we see that, then we'll be very pleased, and I think the entire industry will be very pleased with the appropriate changes such that this entire sector can kind of flourish and we can be building these incredibly innovative products like HiveMappper, like Helium, and many others.
OK, Ariel, well, we will have to leave it there for today, but as always, great having you on the show.
Thank you so much for sharing all of your insights and perspectives.
Thank you for having me.
