Network performance signal mapper OpenSignal has landed $4 million in its first round of funding, driven by Qualcomm Ventures (the chipmakers investment wing). O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures and Passion Capital also participated in the round.
According to CEO Brendan Gill, more than nine million people have downloaded their app worldwide. “This boils down to over 35 billion data points on the coverage and performance of wireless networks. We have data on every single mobile operator in every country out there. We’ve also mapped over 250 million WiFi hotspots as well,” he says.
A London based, crowdsourced start-up, OpenSignal, uses data from sensors in users’ phones to build maps of network coverage as opposed to carriers self reporting their coverage, thus providing factual and unbiased signal maps. With the new funding, it intends to build its team and hire data specialists to assist in a spectrum of aspects such as data mining and data handling.
OpenSignal has been keen on increasing transparency between consumers and the mobile industry which means improved services through partnered companies.The fact that they are crowdsourced gives them an edge much appreciated by the layman.
Their plans of expansion into providing weather info have been underway with their WeatherSignal app and they are now looking to explore new ideas such as air quality, radiation and 3D vision sensors, as the mobile technology develops with them.
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(Image Credit: OpenSignal )
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