By Geoff Michener, CEO and founder, dataplor

Today marks a significant milestone in dataplor’s journey—we have successfully closed our $10.6M Series A funding round led by Spark Capital, a pivotal step as we continue our mission to deliver the most accurate Point of Interest (POI) data available, empowering enterprises to make better decisions and drive growth across global markets.

From the outset, dataplor was built on the belief that accurate, reliable, and privacy-first location data was missing from the global market. We aim to help companies uncover hidden opportunities and build stronger relationships within the worldwide business community.  Estimates show bad data costs the market nearly $7 trillion annually. Many providers claim to offer comprehensive global coverage but lack the expertise and verification measures to deliver highly accurate datasets. This problem is particularly pronounced in developing countries, where up to 70% to 90% of international location data contains inaccuracies.

Building the infrastructure to curate an accurate, global dataset

Even from the earliest days of our first Minimally Viable Product (MVP), we’ve seen the value that international POI data can unlock for businesses, and our approach of including humans in the loop has been validated each step of the way. Building a robust product and team was critical in our early growth. We also found our sweet spot of using both technology—AI algorithms for gathering data, de-duping it, finding errors, etc.—and expert human validators as the key to building accurate data at scale. Creating the infrastructure for scaling this global product could not have been done without the collective effort of the dataplor team’s diverse talents and dedication. As we continued to see interest from customers and drew support from early investors, we grew our business. Now, we’ve curated a dataset that encompasses over 300 million POI records across more than 200 countries and territories and counting. 

Our unique approach ensures that our datasets are highly accurate, complete, and continually updated in real time. We have developed an industry-leading quality control system that combines hundreds of sources, reviewed by our in-house data scientists and analysts. dataplor is used by strategic decision-makers in retail, mapping, consumer packaged goods, and quick-service restaurants, among other growing industries. We count dozens of Fortune 500 brands among our customer base, and we envision this funding carrying our work to new heights.

Maximizing humans in the loop

Uncovering data and intelligence is a profoundly human exercise. However, empowering the hundreds of dedicated individuals contributing to our data verification efforts requires blending their expertise with the right technology. As dataplor continues to grow, our commitment to delivering superior global data remains unshaken. We achieve this by bringing together a world-class team of data specialists. Our team is dedicated to consistently providing exceptional products and experiences, driven by their expertise and adaptability, to meet the needs of our valued customers. The dataplor team’s collaborative mindset and innovation have been crucial in blending advanced AI with human insight to refine our data accuracy. As we expand, we aim to continue recruiting smart and innovative individuals who can contribute to our growth.

We invested early in using machine learning to efficiently process billions of data points, map patterns, and break down information so it’s most useful for our customer base. Our deep learning technology gives global location intelligence to any brand worldwide, opening a new perspective to assessing brand performance and new opportunities. Our funding empowers us to continue investments in new technologies that will scale the work of our human intelligence gatherers and analysts.

Future growth with a privacy-first approach

We’ve taken pride in launching and scaling a platform with efficiency. But even as we scale, our commitment to a privacy-first approach remains unwavering. In an era where data privacy is increasingly under the spotlight, we believe it is not only possible but essential to collect and utilize data responsibly. 

At dataplor, we don’t utilize any personally identifiable information (PII) in our data collection practices. Our datasets are sourced through direct contact with a place, or through publicly available data, without using PII or engaging in individual tracking through phones, apps, or other devices. This approach aligns with our ethos and also benefits our customers by ensuring they don’t have any legal or regulatory challenges from using data that breaches privacy best practices.

A future of superior location intelligence

I’m thankful for the leadership of Alex Finkelstein at Spark Capital, Quest Venture Partners, Acronym Venture Capital, Circadian Ventures, Two Lanterns Venture Partners, APA Venture Partners, and ffVC for leading this round. This key milestone was only possible because of our team’s commitment and dynamism; I look forward to seeing the new challenges we take on together. 

With this new funding, we’re poised to explore new frontiers, tackle bigger challenges, and deliver even greater value to our customers. We’re thrilled about the new opportunities ahead.