Green Map System

What Green Map System does

Green Map System, Inc. is a U.S.-headquartered nonprofit organization founded in 1995 that develops and operates an open-source community mapping platform for documenting local sustainability, climate, cultural, and social-justice resources. Its core product is the Green Map Platform, built and maintained by Berlin-based technology partner GISCollective, which lets users create interactive maps using a globally recognized library of 170 co-designed Green Map Icons (v3) released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. The platform supports multilingual use in 15+ languages, custom survey creation, map embedding on third-party sites, and data import/export via a REST API, with complementary offerings including specialized icon sets (Local Food Icons, Recovery Icons, SDG Icons), an iOS app, and a no-code Custom Website Builder. It serves a distributed base of community organizations, NGOs, students and educators, local food advocates, municipal governments, and climate event organizers in 65 countries, with regional anchoring in New York (HQ), Dunoon, Scotland (POP Shop desk, since 2023), and partner operations in Berlin.

Name

Green Map System

Legal name

Green Map System, Inc.

Website

https://greenmap.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Green Map System is a nonprofit that operates an open-source mapping platform with 170 sustainability-focused icons, enabling community organizations, educators, and local governments in 65 countries to document and share local environmental and cultural resources.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Mapping Software

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Mapping & Basemap Platforms (Tiles/SDKs) (BPAMANAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

GIS & Spatial Data Management Platforms (BPAMANAK), Local & Neighborhood Communities (BPAMABAG), Smart Cities & Urban Innovation Programs (Digital Planning, Civic Tech for Cities) (BPAIANAJ)

Keywords

• Community mapping tools
• Sustainability icon systems
• Open source mapping
• Environmental mapping platform
• Nonprofit mapping software

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations and Support: Green Map System is a nonprofit organization that relies on donations and support from individuals and organizations to sustain operations. The website features a donate button and mentions that support enables the platform to continue.
2. Training and Support Services: Paid training and support packages are available as premium services for organizations needing assistance with their mapping projects.
3. Platform Plans: The platform offers free tier access with premium plans available for advanced features and support.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Green Map System operates an open-source community mapping platform that enables users to create, customize, and share interactive maps highlighting local sustainable resources. The platform features 170 co-designed Green Map Icons covering nature, culture, social justice, and sustainability themes, supports multilingual mapping in 15+ languages, and is used by community groups in 65 countries. Complementary paid services include icon design, custom development, and training/support packages.

Product overview

Green Map System operates as a nonprofit organization offering a platform-based product ecosystem centered on community sustainability mapping. The core product is the Green Map Platform, an interactive mapping tool that enables users to create, customize and share maps highlighting local sustainable resources using 170 co-designed Green Map Icons (available under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license). The platform supports map embedding on external websites, survey tools for data collection, and data import/export capabilities. The product portfolio includes specialized icon sets (Local Food Icons with 60 icons, Recovery Icons, SDG Icons), mobile applications (iOS App), professional services (Icon Design, Support & Training, Custom Development), and educational resources (Youth Resources, Community Learning Resources). The platform is powered by GISCollective's open-source technology and is used in 65 countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Green Map Platform An interactive open-source mapping platform that allows community groups, educators, NGOs, and individuals to create, customize and share maps highlighting local nature, culture, climate justice, and sustainability resources. Includes access to 170 Green Map Icons, survey tools, map embedding, and data import/export.
• Green Map Icons (v3) A set of 170 globally recognized, co-designed icons for charting local nature, culture, social, and sustainability resources, organized across 12 categories. Available in SVG, PNG, JPG, and PDF formats under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license; used in 65 countries.
• Local Food Icons A specialized icon set of 60 icons designed for mapping local food resources, including Growing, Eating, Enterprise, and Specialty food categories. Supports food security and sustainable agriculture mapping initiatives.
• Recovery Icons A set of icons created during the COVID-19 recovery period, pointing to places for safe distancing, nature access, local business support, and healthier future planning.
• SDG Icons Icons representing the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), enabling users to chart local progress toward global sustainability targets.
• Open Green Map iOS App A mobile application for iOS that allows users to discover nearby Green Map locations, access map content, and contribute to local mapping projects on mobile devices.
• Icon Design Service A paid service for organizations that need custom icons beyond the standard Green Map Icon set, providing bespoke iconography tailored to specific mapping themes.
• Support & Training Paid training and support packages offered to help organizations and mapmakers get started with the Green Map Platform and maximize its capabilities through workshops and ongoing assistance.
• Custom Development Bespoke software development services for organizations requiring custom functionality, specialized integrations, or tailored implementations of the Green Map Platform.

Quantifiable outcome

• Maps created in 65 countries with shared iconography and methodology
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered regional, core and international.

• POP Shop (People Of Place)regionalStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2023POP Shop is a community interest company (CIC) in Dunoon, Scotland providing shared workspace and enterprise support services. Green Map System sponsors a desk at this location to support local Green Map projects across Scotland.
• GISCollectivecoreTechnology or IntegrationGISCollective (Berlin, Germany) develops and maintains the open source mapping platform for Green Map System. Co-founded by Alexandra Casapu and Bogdan Szabo, they provide technical development, training, and ongoing platform improvements based on user feedback.
• Tacit TacitcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTacit Tacit (Dunoon, Scotland) is a sustainable design agency led by Hannah Clinch that provides design services, communications, and strategic support for Green Map projects, particularly in rural Scotland.
• NYC Parks GreenThumbregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerNYC Parks' community garden program works with Green Map System on mapping initiatives including the Dutch Kills Loop regenerative open space project in Queens.
• Trust for Governors IslandregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerGreen Map Director Wendy Brawer serves on the board of Trust for Governors Island, with Green Map participating in residency programs on the island focusing on climate, culture, and community.
• Glasgow Eco TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-time local partner co-creating the Glasgow Green Map with sustainability and social justice resources. Partnership includes Stop Climate Chaos Scotland and Climate Fringe groups.
• Coalfields Regeneration TrustregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerScottish organization working on Local Place Plans with Green Map System, supporting community-led planning initiatives.
• Red de Mapa Verde of CubainternationalStrategic or Co-development PartnerCuban Green Map network collaborating on shared learning resources, books, and mapping methodology, including co-creation of the 'Mapping our Common Ground' book.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Mapbox: Commercial mapping platform providing basemaps, APIs, and SDKs. Comparable as a mapping platform infrastructure provider, though vastly larger and serving enterprise/commercial use cases.
• Google My Maps: Consumer-facing custom map creation tool inside Google Maps. Comparable as a self-serve mapping platform, though lacking sustainability-specific iconography and community features.

Direct peers

• Maptionnaire: Community engagement and participatory mapping platform for urban planning and civic projects. Comparable in serving municipalities and community organizations with map-based engagement tools.
• uMap: Open-source tool for creating custom interactive maps with custom icons and layers. Closely comparable to Green Map Platform's self-serve map creation with embeddable outputs and custom iconography.
• CitSci.org: Citizen science project platform enabling community-driven data collection. Comparable in enabling grassroots contributors to gather local environmental and community data for shared mapping outputs.
• Place Matters: Community-driven cultural and historical asset mapping initiative. Comparable as a nonprofit platform focused on documenting local cultural and community resources through mapping.
• OpenStreetMap Foundation: Open-source collaborative mapping platform with global contributor community. Highly comparable to Green Map System's open, community-built mapping model, though broader in scope and not sustainability-focused.

Emerging players

• Felt: Collaborative mapping tool for teams with intuitive UI. Comparable as a modern collaborative mapping platform, though targeted at general professional and team use rather than sustainability.
• iNaturalist: Citizen-science platform for crowdsourcing biodiversity observations. Comparable as a community-driven environmental data platform, though focused on species rather than sustainability assets.

Others

• Histories of the Unexpected: Community-led storytelling and place-based history initiative. Adjacent to Green Map System in using place-based mapping to surface hidden local cultural and environmental stories.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/greenmap
• YouTubeyoutube.com/greenmapsystem
• Facebookfacebook.com/greenmap
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/greenmapsystem
• Instagraminstagram.com/green.map

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Green Map System