Strava, the exercise monitoring and social group platform utilized by greater than 100 million folks globally, has acquired Fatmap, a European firm that’s constructing a high-resolution 3D world map platform for the nice outside. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
Founded in 2009, Strava has emerged as one of many preeminent exercise monitoring providers, proving notably widespread within the biking and working fraternities which use the Strava app to plot routes, converse with fellow athletes, and document all their motion for posterity by way of GPS. The firm has more and more been concentrating on hikers too, and final yr it launched a brand new path sports activities and routes choice geared toward walkers, mountain bikers, and path runners.
Fatmap, for its half, was based a decade in the past, with an preliminary concentrate on offering ski resorts with high-resolution digital maps. In the intervening years, the corporate has labored with varied satellite tv for pc and aerospace firms to bolster its platform with detailed maps incorporating summits, rivers, passes, paths, huts, and extra, arming anybody venturing into mountainous terrain the knowledge they should know precisely what they’ll encounter earlier than they arrive.
Fatmap in motion Image Credits: Fatmap / Strava
With 1.6 million registered customers, Fatmap’s mission, finally, is to be the Google Maps of the nice outside, with a premium subscription ($30 / yr) unlocking entry to further options reminiscent of downloadable maps and route planning within the cell app.
Integrated
The final long-term objective for Strava is to combine Fatmap’s core platform into Strava itself, however that can be a resource-intensive endeavor that received’t occur in a single day. And that’s the reason Strava is working to create a single sign-on (SSO) integration within the near-term, that means that subscribers will be capable to entry the complete Fatmap feature-set by logging into the Fatmap app with their Strava credentials.
While Strava and Fatmap will stay separate merchandise for now, Strava stated that it’ll resolve sooner or later whether or not Fatmap will dwell on as a standalone product as soon as the technical integration has taken place.
CEO and cofounder Michael Horvath, who stepped down in 2013 earlier than returning as head honcho six years later, stated that the Fatmap acquisition is a part of Strava’s “ongoing investment to provide a best-in-class digital experience” for these looking for an lively life-style.
“Where other map platforms have been designed for navigating streets and cities, Fatmap built a map designed specifically to help people explore the outdoors,” Horvath informed TechCrunch in a Q&A. “We will enable Fatmap technology in all of Strava’s services, empowering anyone to discover and plan an outdoor experience with curated local guides, points of interest and safety information.”
In phrases of timescales, Strava stated that it has arrange a devoted staff tasked with integrating Fatmap, and it anticipates this to start out displaying up inside Strava from round mid-2023. The firm was additionally fast to emphasize that Fatmap’s tech can be out there to each free and paid-for Strava members, although sure options referring to maps, discovery, and route-planning can be reserved for paying subscribers.
Strava offered TechCrunch with the next mockup to offer an thought of what Fatmap would possibly appear like inside a future incarnation of Strava.
Strava / Fatmap integration mockup
Strava has raised north of $150 million in funding since its inception, with big-name backers together with esteemed Silicon Valley investor Sequoia Capital, however the firm hasn’t engaged in a lot acquisition exercise in its 14 yr historical past. Strava did purchase damage prevention app Recover Athletics final May for an undisclosed determine although, and right this moment we’ve discovered that Strava additionally purchased on-line athlete group Prokit in 2021, one thing that Strava didn’t formally announce on the time.
It’s clear that the proprietary 3D mapping know-how Fatmap had developed would have taken an excessive amount of time and sources for Strava to copy itself from scratch, which is why shopping for Fatmap outright possible made extra sense on this occasion.
“Strava’s primary goal is to be the digital experience at the center of active people’s lives — that includes offering people a holistic view of their active lifestyle, no matter where they live, which sport they love or what device they use,” Horvath stated. “This concept fuels much of our strategic thinking and product roadmap. For acquisitions specifically, we explore those that can accelerate our strategic vision to create the best subscription service for active people serving the largest active community in the world.”
While Fatmap is integrated within the U.Ok. and has a part of its workforce based mostly there, the majority of its 50 staff are unfold throughout workplaces in France, Germany and Lithuania. Strava stated that it’s protecting the Fatmap staff in tact, and every will proceed to report back to Fatmap founder and CEO Misha Gopaul, who will now function VP of Product at Strava and report back to Strava’s chief product and know-how officer Steve Lloyd.
While Strava isn’t revealing how a lot it paid for Fatmap, the startup had solely raised round $8 million so the deal is unlikely to interrupt the financial institution for Strava. What it’ll do, although, alongside its different two latest acquisitions, is make Strava a stickier proposition for a larger variety of folks — not simply biking and working for which Strava is best recognized.