By: Eric Gundersen
Good morning Minsk! Today Mapbox is bringing on the deep learning team at MapData, a neural network-based map SDK team in Minsk, and we plan to open a new office in the High Tech Park in the city. The team in Minsk will be dedicated to supporting deep learning, computer vision, and self-driving vehicles to complement our larger investments in autonomous driving and growing presence within the automotive sector.
Navigation apps have not innovated in years. Drivers are looking at 2D maps on their phones like the old school atlas our parents had — we can do so much better. As the device bezels fade away, front-facing cameras and navigation displays need to merge. Drivers should see an augmented reality, with directions showing up in front of where they need to turn. Phones will be the heads-up displays of the future without the need for expensive hardware.
“It’s great to see how fruitful cooperation during the last one and a half years has grown into a new breathtaking project. My big dream was always to have and ride in a self-driving car. It’s incredible that I get to be part of it and work on creating it,” said Alexander Matveenko, General Manager for Mapbox in Minsk.
During the past few years, Minsk has been rapidly growing as an innovation hub. Mapbox has been successfully working with developers in the city for the past 18 months, and we felt the timing was right to expand our investment there.
“The President of Belarus is expanding benefits for the members of High Tech Park area in Minsk and making it easier for companies to set up shop,” said Denis Alienkov, Alienkov & Partners, who has been supporting our work in Minsk.
Mapbox was initially introduced to Minsk by Yury Melnichek, the founder of Maps.me and lead investor AIMatters. Yuri is an advisor to me and our team.
“The combination of technical talent and a really dedicated work ethic is going to drive a lot of startups here. I believe this is an ecosystem that is important for Mapbox to be a part of,” said Melnichek.
Mapbox in Minsk was originally published in Points of interest on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.