INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
While applications like Google Maps and Yelp seem to provide an inexhaustible source of information about local restaurants, stores and
gathering and selling that data
data about 105 million points of interest and Google has 100 million, Meech estimates that there are more than 1 billion POIs across the
world, many of them in developing nations where the data is more spotty.So StreetCred is building a marketplace where users should be
rewarded for collecting this data, while interested companies should be able to buy the data more easily.Meech has been working on mapping
for years, serving as the CTO at MapQuest (which, like TechCrunch, is owned by Verizon/Oath) and then as CEO at Mapzen, an open-source
mapping subsidiary of Samsung
The idea is that users can download an app and then collect location data around the city, earning crypto tokens as they do
(They take photos to validate their location, and the data is also verified by other users.) Then companies that want to buy the data can do
so by purchasing tokens.Meech drew parallels to Foursquare, which started as a location-sharing app before building a business around its
collection of location data.The team is still experimenting with the specific details of how contributions are incentivized and compensated,
