As Mapbox closes out 2024, we are reflecting on an incredible year filled with exciting advances in location technology. It was a year marked by meaningful partnerships across our community of developers, customers, and partners. Many memorable moments and achievements stand out to us as highlights of how the Mapbox team continues to shape the future of maps and location technology.

Partnerships that propel innovation

This year, we built strong partnerships with market leaders like DoorDash, Snowflake, Michelin Mobility Intelligence, and Arm, who utilize our location solutions to enhance their services. Collaboration has always been at the heart of what we do, and these partnerships underscore the impact of innovative, shared visions on solving real-world challenges.

It was especially exciting to work with OpenAI to integrate Mapbox maps into ChatGPT search as the first AI large language model service that combines text answers with tailored auto-generated maps. By blending AI with dynamic mapping, OpenAI is setting a new standard for using location features in search, making the answers to place-relevant queries more intuitive and useful. 

Engaging our community through webinars

Throughout the year, the Mapbox team hosted 13 webinars that shared product updates, use case insights, and customer voices with our growing community of developers and businesses. From the Winter Release 2024 webinar packed with new geofencing and customization features to conversations about retail growth through location intelligence, these webinars are a great way to learn how to maximize the potential of Mapbox solutions.

Advancing through customer feedback

2024 saw the launch of our first Customer Advisory Board, an opportunity for some of our most engaged partners to shape our product innovation and roadmap. We are so grateful to the incredible leaders and innovators who joined us from Bosch, komoot, Kpler, Kraken, Octopus Energy, MapsPeople, Michelin Mobility Intelligence, and Wolt. We are driven by customer success, and this initiative ensures that customers’ voices are at the center of our advancements and plans.

Showcasing innovation at CES 2024

At CES 2024, we proudly displayed our latest breakthroughs in location technology. The new Navigation SDK introduced advanced AI-powered features, including MapGPT, an intuitive voice assistant for natural, actionable in-vehicle interactions, and Mapbox for EV, an intelligent route planner for electric vehicles with real-time charger availability. We also announced a collaboration with Hyundai Autoever to integrate MapGPT and 3D navigation into Hyundai vehicles. This partnership aims to deliver a seamless AI-driven digital ecosystem, improving convenience and safety by enabling natural voice commands for navigation, traffic updates, and EV-specific features.

Innovative product launches driving industry solutions

Through our Spring and Winter Releases, we introduced solutions tailored to industries such as on-demand logistics, telecommunications, real estate, business intelligence, and retail. These updates demonstrated how versatile and impactful location intelligence can be, addressing critical business challenges head-on.

This year, the Mapbox team continued to push the boundaries of geospatial innovation with a few major launches and other valuable updates:

• MTS support for raster data: Expanded support for raster data for enhanced weather and imagery visualizations.
• Simplified way to build interactive map features: Mapbox GL JS v.3.8 and Mobile Maps SDKs v.11.8 introduce experimental APIs for streamlined map interactions, reducing code while maintaining full API capabilities. 
• Mapbox Geofencing: Simplifies managing large-scale geofences, boosting operational efficiency and revenue growth.
• Mapbox Console: Offers a modern, intuitive experience with streamlined workflows, quick project access, and seamless tool integration, evolving to support future features.
• MTS support for clustering: Allows direct clustering of tiled data using recipe features, eliminating the need for pre-clustering and legacy tools, thus streamlining data pipelines.
• Mapbox Standard style updates: Enables more flexible 3D map configurations, enhancing aesthetics for complex data visualizations, and smoother user animations, so developers can craft even more dynamic, interactive map experiences.
• Boundaries Flat File: Mapbox Boundaries now includes a flat file option in GeoJSON format, enabling deeper geospatial analysis.
• Search Box API: Empower developers with a cost-effective, intuitive all-in-one location search for addresses, places, and POIs.
• Geocoding V6: Power your business with unit-level geocoding and advanced features for high-volume geocoding and analysis.
• Mapbox Snowflake Native App 2.0: Unlock more location intelligence use cases with our new distance and duration and Isochrone tools.
• Search SDKs: Allows developers to effortlessly integrate comprehensive search functionalities, including offline search, customizable UI components, favorites, search history, and personalization, into apps.
• Mapbox Boundaries 4.4: Introduced significant enhancements, expanding geographic coverage across Asia with 32 new boundary layers and 51,000 updates. Developers can now create smarter, more localized applications for the region.
• Geocoding enhancement: Enhanced place data across 157 countries, and updated 41,000 ZIP code boundaries in the U.S.

Growing presence across industry events

Our team actively engaged with thought leaders at some of the biggest global events in the industries relevant to many of our customers, including Groceryshop and the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. It is always energizing to connect with our customer communities in person and discuss innovations that are reshaping their industries.

Recognition for documentation excellence

We were thrilled to be honored at the 2024 DevPortal Awards, where our Mapbox Documentation platform won Best Unified Enterprise Developer Portal. This recognition affirms our commitment to providing the best user experience for developers worldwide.

Mapbox was also honored with the Navigation Technology Solution of the Year award at the Autotech Breakthrough Awards for the innovative Mapbox Navigation SDK. This recognition, awarded for the third time in a row, highlights our commitment to transforming navigation experiences by providing OEM developers with powerful, customizable tools for in-vehicle navigation systems.

‍Map fun with the #30DayMapChallenge

Throughout November, we participated in the #30DayMapChallenge, a unique social media initiative created by Topi Tjukanovt. We celebrated cartographic creativity from across our team and the wider community, welcoming developers to share innovative ways they use Mapbox. It was exciting to see the dialogue sparked by the Challenge and the incredible diversity of ways that people around the world are building with the latest mapping technologies.

BUILD with Mapbox 2024

This year’s BUILD with Mapbox event was a resounding success. The weeklong event brought together developers, executives, and industry experts to showcase and discuss how location technology can enhance operations across industries. It was a celebration of innovation, collaboration, and the endless possibilities that Mapbox enables. We especially enjoyed watching the Developer Show & Tell session!

Looking ahead to 2025

Our 2024 milestones represent more than just progress — they reflect the relentless drive of the whole Mapbox team to innovate and serve. Together, we are building a platform defined not only by what it offers, but also by what it enables others to achieve. Whether it is delivering smarter solutions, collaborating with our vibrant community, or transforming some of the world’s most critical industries, Mapbox is paving the way for the future application of location technology.

To everyone who has been part of our 2024 story — our customers, partners, developers, and team members — the best is yet to come. Congratulations on all the achievements of 2024, and we look forward to working together in an even more remarkable 2025.