Top 5 Ways TomTom Can Help Your Startup

We're know for our partnerships with larger companies - but did you know that we also built TomTom Developer with startups in mind? We get startups and want to bring all their location ideas to life - so if your a new company trying to figure out what location provider to use, here a few reasons why we are a good fit.

At TomTom, we have a history of partnering with large companies who help power mobility, so that we can share our maps and data with the world and all who need it. Just as easily as substantial names in their space can take advantage of our location legacy, we love seeing what ideas young companies have to revolutionize mapping – and we’re here to help!

Startups should know that they have options when choosing a mapping service from which to grow their platforms, meaning that they have the power to take control of their role in a location-powered digital age. What makes this the smarter choice for an idea just talking off the ground?

Let’s hop on this TomTom rocket ship and find out…

1. Mapping has gone mobile, so stand out.

1. of applications use location – which means there’s an endless array of ideas entering the market for mobile applications that users want to see. With all of that mapping on your phone comes a huge amount of redundancy if every app is using the same map. Wouldn’t you like yours to be different?

2. We are flexible. And we like trucks.

That meme of the truck running into the bridge? That wasn’t us. As you can read here from our feature in Mobile Geeks, Google does not take truck height or width into consideration to accommodate comprehensive routing for freight. If you’re a startup specifically focused on creating custom routes for large vehicles like this, there’s a clear decision to be made.

We allow more flexibility built in to how we help you route, map, search and display traffic – or any combination of the above. We know that you are growing your company from the ground up, so we are here to grow with you. Developers choose what layers and aspects to use or edit out of the final product.

3. We help you with privacy.

Users are raising their voices in defense of their personal data now more than ever, and with good reason. Decades of mining location information without any structure of permission-granting has set the stage for a takeback. We complied with the foundations of GDPR long before it came into being as a legal topic, giving you complete control over the data you retain in your application from location point data, starting at the API layer. You can create a space in which only action-necessary information is retained, only for the duration of an action (say, routing from here to around the block), never touching users’ personal info.

4. We move fast.

Developer Relations is a bit of a startup within TomTom itself – a team of people dedicated to supporting developers of all types, including startups. So, we know that plans change and roadmaps take different turn… we understand because we do it too! With TomTom Maps APIs you have the support of working with a “startup”, but you’re also building with a reliable product backed by 28 years of mapping technology.

We don’t have any other agenda than to move you from A to B, B to C, and all the places in between – overhead isn’t our subtext. We’re not owned by a non-mapping company, we’re not a division, and we don’t have another focus.

As we craft the experience of our developer portal, we’re also on the lookout for questions on our very own developer forum – and our Developer Advocates are ready to jump into conversations on Twitter, Reddit, StackOverflow, and Quora too.

5. We are invested in you!

As our developer community is growing, we are excited to partner with startups because we are able to introduce the to a network of other builders who also want to see you succeed.

We have a history of working with incubators and love talking with startups directly as they begin their journey of migrating from another map, or exploring location-based services for the first time. We notice your questions and feedback where other mapping might not, because we have a zeal to see what you create!

If all that wasn’t enough to convince you, we’re free. We didn’t raise our prices (ahem), and you can make 2,500 calls a day without paying or keeping a credit card on file for us. Especially if you’re just starting out, that’s a lot! You can also take advantage of free maps on mobile.

We want to make it easy to switch to TomTom, because we <3 startups and watching you innovate. If you want to chat about all things locatable, find me on Twitter @ovahsen!

Happy Mapping!