GM Invests in MapAnything Telematics Provider

General Motors investment arm, GM Ventures, has invested in MapAnything, a telematics service provider that was integrated with OnStar in 2017, MapAnything has announced.

The GM investment came during a $42.5-million funding round that will be used to expand its reach in strategic markets, broad its developer community, and deepen relationships with partners. MapAnything also plans to increase its research and development so it can capitalize on new opportunities and technology advancements, according to the company.

The Series C investment includes participation from GM Ventures and Andrew Leto, as well as existing investors Salesforce Ventures, Grefcroft, Harbert Growth Partners, and David Stern. Leto, executive chairman of Emerge, has joined the MapAnything board.

"We have seen firsthand how the most sophisticated fleet managers in the world rely on connectivity to optimize their investments in vehicles and people, and we're just starting to scratch the surface of what's possible using sophisticated tools like MapAnything," said Ed Peper, GM Fleet's vice president.

MapAnything's customer-focused solutions dovetail with GM's commercial growth strategy and connectivity initiatives. GM sales to commercial customers have grown by more than 7% each year since 2012, and the company has delivered more than 11 million vehicles with built-in 4GLTE Wi-Fi hot spots.

Last month, GM surveyed some of the country's largest fleet managers in a partnership with Bobit Business Media, and more than 90% said connectivity has the biggest potential to transform their operations.

Field service organizations struggling to keep pace with the shifting on-demand expectations of their customers could benefit from the partnership. An increase in customer retention rates by 5% could increase profits from 25% to 95%, according to Harvard Business Review. Most field service organizations struggle to provide precise visit windows and customer notifications for customers.

“The ability of B-to-B enterprises to derive value from location is a game changer for organizations with large mobile workforces,” said John Stewart, MapAnything chief executive and co-founder. "But historically, geographic intelligence has been limited to those with advanced analytics and GIS experience. MapAnything is democratizing location data to accelerate the productivity of mobile workers and enable customer experiences that exceed expectations."