A journey towards social impact: BindiMaps crowned Global Champion at the 2023 World Summit Awards
Indoor navigation and digital map startup BindiMaps has been proclaimed a Global Champion in the Smart Settlements and Urbanisation category at the annual UN World Summit Awards. They were one of eight Global Champions chosen from a total of 182 applicants. BindiMaps’ technology is not only convenient for able-bodied individuals but proves to be life-changing for individuals with accessibility needs.
“BindiMaps exists so that nobody has to navigate their day in darkness.”
- Mladen Jovanovic, Co-Founder of BindiMaps
The smartphone app helps users navigate indoor spaces according to varying accessibility needs. Mladen Jovanovic, the Co-Founder and CCO of BindiMaps, met Anna Wright, the CEO and conceiver of BindiMaps, back in 2017.
At the time, Anna had been diagnosed with a rare eye disorder, where the doctor had literally told her “You’re going to go blind… you need to start thinking about it.”
Upon meeting and learning about the problem Anna was solving, Mladen went on to share that he was actually working on another startup but “decided that Anna’s idea had a much better impact on the world and that’s something [he] wanted to be a part of.”
“…it was all about restoring independence to people in the disability community and allowing them to do things that they couldn’t otherwise independently.”
Before being a part of the for-purpose startup, Mladen admitted to being unfamiliar with the realm of social impact and disabilities.
“It was in the early days when Anna explained the problem that it was a complete shock to me. I mean, the simple question of, you know, if someone’s blind and they’re going into a new building, fair enough, there’s braille on the restrooms, but how are they going to find the braille?”
“…if someone’s blind and they’re going into a new building, fair enough that there’s braille on the restrooms, but how are they going to find the braille?”
Similarly, it seemed that most of BindiMaps’ stakeholders were in the dark when it came to understanding the importance of social impact, accessibility and ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) within businesses.
“One of the biggest challenges that our company faced, especially in the early days, was educating customers about social impact, about accessibility, about ESG, because we started our journey before there was such a big focus on social impact.”
“So, when we took the product to the market, it was like — we actually had people turn around and say, what is my dollar return per blind person by implementing this? And that was one of the most horrific conversations to have with customers, right? Because we needed to educate them that you’re not looking for your dollar return.”
Mladen went on to emphasise the importance of social impact and purpose in ensuring corporate longevity.
“There was something I read recently where they said that any company in the next 10 years that doesn’t have a social impact or doesn’t have some sort of purpose is going to die.”
“And it doesn’t matter how big they are, because in the world that we live in today, I think every company needs to have a purpose. Every company needs to be doing their part, whether it be sustainability, social impact whatever that may be,” he went on to explain.
This was the exact mindset the Melbourne Accelerator Program (MAP) had back in 2019 when the program broadened its eligibility requirements to accept applications from social impact startups without the need to be affiliated with the University.
“MAP has a long and proud history of supporting University affiliated social impact startups such as Acusensus, Pride Cup and SmileyScope. In 2019, through the support of our partners the Cameron Foundation, MAP decided that in order to work towards solving some of society’s biggest challenges we needed to broaden the scope beyond the University context. Since then, we have been proud to support a range of social impact startups such as Talked, SpendAble and BindiMaps.”
- Jaxon Hickey, MAP Accelerator Manager
BindiMaps was one of the first teams to enter MAP in 2019 through the social impact stream, which Mladen referred to as “one of the best decisions” the startup has ever made.
“I think it was just a massive launchpad for us into, one, a new market, and on the other end, into a new phase of growth,” the international multi-award-winning entrepreneur shared.
“…the biggest thing for us, I would say, is the expansion into the new market and the introductions and the network that MAP has. But being able to get all the learnings and lean on all the mentors throughout the program as well was hugely beneficial.”
Courtesy of its recent win at the 2023 World Summit Awards, BindiMaps’ expansion into the global market is growing by the day.
Through this award and global recognition, BindiMaps can now “lean on the UN members, the UN Congress, the UNWSA jurors for expansion, for investment, for sales, for teams, for recruitment, for anything that BindiMaps may need.”
Noting this award as “one of the most amazing things” the company accomplished, Mladen explained that it was great to see “the recognition of how big the problem is that [BindiMaps’] is trying to solve [and] all the hard work the team has put into creating a solution to solve this problem.”
As part of the selection process, the teams were assessed based on how strongly they align with the 17 UN sustainable development goals and the level of impact they have on the world.
“They were evaluating the pitch on how big is the problem, what is the solution and what is the impact.”
With their rapid rise to success, accompanied by newfound access to an abundant international network, Mladen contends that the company’s mission remains set on making places accessible for all individuals in society.
“From our perspective, [the award] didn’t change the trajectory of the company because we’re still going towards our north star of making places accessible”.
Officially going international following their sales agreement with the European Union in 2022, BindiMaps has since made instalments in Hungary and New Zealand. Potential future collaborations include sites located in the US and Singapore.
“It’s a scary time because it’s uncharted territory for everyone in the company… but we’re hopeful that it’s going to be something big and amazing.”
Mladen ended our catchup by expressing immense gratitude to his team for the hard work they put into the company and into making an impact on the world.
“There was no way that I would be where I’m at personally without my team.”
Learn more about other startups that the Melbourne Accelerator Program is supporting here: https://www.themap.co/startups/accelerator
Watch the full BindiMaps interview on YouTube here.
