An app to navigate labyrinths called malls.

Byline: Mutaher Khan

HOW annoying is it that when you are about to pay for stuff at a store and the customer representative says, 'Sir, no card. Only cash.' And then you are left on your own to roam around the mall and find that one ATM in a small, obscure corner?

Or when you have to find that shop you bought pants from last Eid but don't remember where it is located and end up wandering around all the floors? There has got to be a better way, no? Well, there is.

MapIn is a Karachi-based startup that makes indoor navigation systems, so you don't get lost in mega concrete structures again. Basically, like a Google map but for indoors.

The idea was conceived by Abdul Samad, the chief technology officer of MapIn, who got lost in a mall in Dubai while trying to look for a mosque. 'I came back to Pakistan and started researching on indoor navigations and found nothing of the sort here,' he recalls. Later on in early 2018, he, along with three friends at the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, pitched this as their final year project and started working on the product.

After graduation, Amer Kumar Tanwani, MapIn's chief executive officer, pursued it full-time with Samad involved on the side, until he too left his job two months ago while the remaining members parted ways post-university. Currently the startup is part of the National Incubation Centre Karachi's acceleration programme.

So how does MapIn work? Download the app, register with mobile number or social media profile, look for the mapped listings and if you are in indoors, just start exploring. Enter that shop you want to go to and it will create a path for you to follow. In case you aren't around, there are still all the deals and offers that can be checked out remotely.

They have started out with malls and have already onboarded Centaurus in Islamabad and are in talks with Lucky One in Karachi. Once they have major shopping centres covered, MapIn wants to bring on board other mega facilities such as hospitals and airports.

This idea of indoor navigation isn't outlandish as it has been tried and tested before. Dubai Mall and Tesco, for example, have something very similar in place where you can navigate point-to-point or explore events and offers.

What about their revenue channels? MapIn charges money based on the area being mapped and has a subscription model, but they rolled out their first implementation for free to establish a clientele.

Other than...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT