What SHOCart does

SHOCart, spol. s r.o., founded in 1991 and headquartered in Zlín, Czech Republic, is one of the largest cartographic publishing houses in the Czech Republic. The company produces paper-based tourist, cycling, automotive, wall, and school maps at 1:40,000 scale, along with a specialized series of comparative historical maps that overlay contemporary Czech regions with 18th- and 19th-century cartographic works from masters such as Jan Kryštof Müller and Josef Bayer. Field verification is conducted by a network of regional project managers operating across the Czech and Slovak Republics, and SHOCart licenses its digital map data in multiple formats (EPS, PDF, JPEG, BMP, TIFF) for use in print and web applications.

The company has built a digital ecosystem around its core paper products: the CBS MAP Explorer augmented reality mobile application overlays interactive points of interest onto physical maps; the wholly-owned Cykloserver.cz portal provides an interactive cycling route planner and atlas for the Czech Republic; and the company-operated Muzeum map Zlín (Map Museum) combines a retail showroom, historical cartography exhibits, a flight simulator, and AR/VR experiences. A wholly-owned subsidiary, Cykloserver.cz, supplements field data collection with real-time cyclist feedback on landscape changes.

SHOCart monetizes through three primary streams: per-unit retail sales of physical maps via the Čarovné Česko e-shop and Muzeum map showroom, quote-based B2B custom map projects for municipalities and tourism agencies, and licensing of digital map data. Since 2023 the company has operated as a member of CBS Group, a diversified Czech and Slovak publishing and cartographic conglomerate. The customer base is distributed across municipalities, tourism agencies, educational institutions, and individual consumers, with no disclosed anchor enterprise customers.

Name

SHOCart

Legal name

SHOCart, spol. s r.o.

Website

https://shocart.cz

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

SHOCart is a Czech cartographic publishing house founded in 1991 that produces paper tourist, cycling, and comparative historical maps for Czech and Slovak municipalities, tourism agencies, and individual consumers, complemented by an AR mobile app, a cycling portal, and a map museum.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Zadverice

HQ country

Czechia

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Physical Map Sales: Sale of printed tourist, cycling, automotive, and wall maps through e-commerce and retail outlets. One-time purchase model with recurring product updates.
2. Custom Map Projects: B2B projects creating personalized maps for municipalities, tourism destinations, and businesses with cooperative design process between customer and SHOCart team.
3. Digital Map Data Licensing: Licensing of proprietary digital cartographic data for use in printed promotional materials or websites, available in multiple scales and formats.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

SHOCart produces and publishes printed tourist and cycling maps at 1:40,000 scale covering Czech Republic regions, historical comparative maps, and offers custom B2B map creation services, digital map data licensing, the CBS MAP Explorer augmented reality app, the Cykloserver.cz cycling portal, and the Muzeum map Zlín interactive cartography museum.

Product overview

SHOCart is a Czech cartographic publishing house founded in 1991, producing paper-based tourist and cycling maps at 1:40,000 scale, supplemented by a digital ecosystem including the CBS MAP Explorer augmented reality mobile app, Cykloserver cycling portal, and interactive Map Museum in Zlín. The portfolio includes standard tourist maps (updated through field research), specialized cycling maps, historical comparative maps (comparing contemporary landscapes with 18th-19th century cartographic works), custom B2B map solutions, and digital map data products. The company operates as part of CBS Group (since 2023) and serves municipalities, tourism agencies, and individual consumers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Muzeum map Zlín: A map museum operated by SHOCart featuring interactive exhibits, flight simulator, historical maps, and augmented reality experiences related to cartography.
• CBS MAP Explorer
• Cykloserver.cz

Products and services

• Tourist Maps (Turistické mapy SHOCart)

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• CBS GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023SHOCart became a member of CBS Group in 2023, joining a strong and stable enterprise that enables continuous development and innovation. CBS Group provides corporate infrastructure and shared services including publishing operations, marketing support, and strategic direction.
• Město Zlín (City of Zlín)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe City of Zlín actively supports the promotion of Muzeum map and presents its activities across various municipal platforms and information channels.
• 14|15 Baťův InstitutmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerTraditional participation in the Gallery and Museum Night event organized under the patronage of 14|15 Baťův Institut. Muzeum map became the third most sought-after location on the entire route, significantly helping organic awareness spreading among Zlín residents and surroundings.
• Škola AVE ART OstravaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreative partnership with AVE ART school in Ostrava brought unique exhibition of original fashion designs created directly from maps into Muzeum map.
• CykloservermajorTechnology or IntegrationSpecialized cycling portal providing comprehensive information and tools for cyclists across Czech Republic. SHOCart leverages Cykloserver to gather real-time information about landscape changes directly from tourists and cyclists, supplementing their map update processes.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Kompass: European outdoor recreation publisher producing paper hiking, cycling, and ski maps plus digital route planning tools across multiple countries. Comparable to SHOCart in combining paper maps with digital route planning and serving outdoor enthusiasts as core customers.
• Freytag & Berndt: Austrian/German cartographic publisher producing tourist, hiking, and cycling maps across Central Europe for over a century. Closest direct peer to SHOCart in terms of paper map format, regional coverage strategy, B2B custom projects, and customer segments (tourism boards, retailers, consumers).
• Kümmerly+Frey: Swiss cartographic publisher (now part of Hallwag-Kümmerly+Frey) producing tourist, cycling, and hiking maps with detailed regional coverage. Directly comparable to SHOCart in product format, scale, and outdoor recreation customer base, with longer-established brand.

Broad incumbents

• Ordnance Survey: UK national mapping agency producing detailed paper and digital maps including outdoor leisure (Leisure/Explorer series) and custom map products. A much larger incumbent with broader product portfolio and stronger brand, but overlapping in core cartographic publishing capabilities.
• Garmin: Global navigation device and digital map producer with detailed topographic and outdoor recreation maps used by cyclists and hikers. Competes indirectly with SHOCart through GPS device ecosystem and digital map subscriptions, but at vastly larger scale as a broad incumbent.
• Mapy.cz: Czech Republic's dominant digital mapping platform operated by Seznam.cz, with detailed Czech coverage including hiking and cycling layers. Competes with SHOCart for both consumer navigation attention and tourism agency promotional partnerships in the same geographic market, but as a large digital incumbent rather than a focused cartographic publisher.
• Michelin Maps: Michelin's cartographic division producing road maps, atlases, and tourist maps with strong European coverage. Overlaps with SHOCart's autoatlas/automapa product line and broader tourist map portfolio, but operates as part of Michelin's wider tire and travel services portfolio.
• National Geographic Maps: Global map publisher producing Trails Illustrated outdoor recreation maps and wall maps. Broader geographic portfolio and stronger consumer brand than SHOCart, but directly comparable in detailed outdoor paper maps and educational/historical map products.

Emerging players

• Komoot: European digital outdoor navigation platform specializing in hiking and cycling route planning with crowdsourced trail data. Comparable to SHOCart's Cykloserver subsidiary and CBS MAP Explorer AR feature; represents the digital-native category that competes for outdoor recreation users.

Regional players

• Ravenstein Verlag: German cartographic publisher specializing in detailed regional hiking and cycling maps. Comparable product format and B2B custom map capabilities to SHOCart, but primarily serves Germany rather than Czech/Slovak markets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/shocart-s-r-o-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 SHOCart