SoftBank and Mapbox Announce Joint Venture to Transform Maps in Japan

May 20, 2020 Mapbox, Inc. SoftBank Corp.

Mapbox, Inc. (“Mapbox”) and SoftBank Corp. (“SoftBank”) today announced the establishment of a joint venture, Mapbox Japan, that will provide Mapbox's premier location data platform and global mapping services for developers in Japan. The JV will be launching a special support to organizations offering COVID-19 mapping services.

“I am very excited to bring Mapbox's technology to Japan to help enterprises enhance their existing mapping services while also creating new customizable location-based services and management tools,” said Eric Gan, Head of Business Development of SoftBank Corp. “We are seeing a significant rise in demand for Mapbox's products from retail, ride-share, hotel, office-sharing, payment, mobility and manufacturing industries. We are constantly discovering new use cases for our partners.”

“We love the way discerning Japanese customers push us to continue to improve and create new solutions,” affirmed Mapbox founder and CEO Eric Gundersen. “The opportunity to build new local services in Japan will also help us create new global offerings. SoftBank is an ideal partner that provides reach and access to an enormous number of entities in Japan.”

Mapbox employs advanced AI on its mapping platform that provides user-friendly APIs and SDKs for highly customizable and data enhanced products and services. Location-based technologies are widely recognized by enterprises as increasingly important for improving overall customer experience and solving challenges in capturing online to offline business.

Service features

Mapbox APIs and SDKs offer a high degree of design flexibility and customization, making it easier for application developers, systems integrators (SIers), and enterprises of any size to deliver powerful, location-based user engagement, data visualization, 3D, turn-by-turn navigation, live traffic, aerial imagery, and more. Mapbox customers can easily combine their own data, deploy custom features, and manage an end-to-end solution on-premise with solutions like Mapbox Atlas. Since Mapbox maps are AI-powered, customer solutions using Mapbox are continually refreshed with the latest data.

Any developer can start using Mapbox for free allowing for immediate sign up and build without friction. Additionally, Mapbox offers a wide-range of support options for customers -- from free community resources to paid support with guaranteed response times and dedicated assistance. For customers who require solution development, our Mapbox Partner Program works with the best systems integrators (SIers) in Japan.