Ariadne Maps: An EIT Digital Success Story in the Making Raises USD 7M Series A Funding
In a significant stride forward for the indoor location industry, Ariadne Maps, a shining star in EIT Digital's Equity Portfolio, has successfully raised a USD 7 million Series A funding round. The funding will fuel the start-up's growth and solidify its position as a technology leader in the sector.
The round was led by Marathon Venture Capital, which also spearheaded a previous seed round two years ago.
Ariadne was launched in March 2019, within the "People Movement Analysis and Optimisation of Infrastructure" innovation activity of the EIT Digital Open Innovation Factory, and got off to a flying start.
The startup's indoor localisation technology uses smartphone-generated signals on various frequencies (GPS, Wi-Fi, GSM, Bluetooth and others) to anonymously analyse people's movements.
Boasting an accuracy that is up to two orders of magnitude better than GPS, it soon attracted the interest of large corporate customers.
Deutsche Bahn, the German railway company, signed a contract with Ariadne to monitor passengers' journeys across the Mühldorf-Laufen train line stations.
Hotels such as the Atlantis The Palm Hotel in Dubai, have been using the technology to see at a glance how the flow of guests spreads across a certain timeframe, and in which common areas. This information can be leveraged by hotel managers to minimize the queues in certain areas and allocate their staff to where they are most needed.
In the transportation sector, Singapore and Heathrow airports have tested Ariadne's technology to understand how long it takes passengers to reach the departure gate, from the moment they enter the airport.
In the retail sector, retailers such as the Bikini shopping centre in Berlin, are leveraging the startup's extremely accurate tracking to determine which stores and products attract the most attention, which in turn enables businesses to optimize their layout and offering.
According to the startup, a "prominent Swedish furniture retailer" and a "top real estate asset manager" in Germany, also feature among major customers.
Marathon VC's partner George Tziralis expressed his excitement about the startup's progress, saying, "Cofounders Georgios Pipelidis, Nikos Tsiamitros and the team have brought a revolutionary offering to a massive market. We keep being amazed by its reception and inspired by the team's relentless drive. In a rare decision for us, we are thrilled to lead a consecutive round and help Ariadne accelerate further."
The success of Ariadne is a testament to EIT Digital's commitment to fostering entrepreneurial deep tech talent and sets an inspiring example for other startups and innovators in the digital space.
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