TomTom begins supporting MapLibre with $10,000 donation

Earlier this week, TomTom announced its goal to build the smartest map on the planet and outlined how its new Orbis Maps that will help it get there. Part of the company's new strategy involves using OpenStreetMap data and working with open-source communities. Today, the company officially announces that it's supporting the open-source project, MapLibre.

TomTom is contributing $10,000 to the MapLibre project and will also begin contributing code back to the project. While this isn't the biggest donation MapLibre has ever received, it's an important first for TomTom.

At present, TomTom uses the MapLibre GL JS library in its tech stack for web client-based map tile rendering. You can learn more about what MapLibre GL JS does here. But this is the first time that TomTom is supporting the project with a financial donation.

MapLibre is an open-source map rendering engine. According to its website, it's “a community-governed non-profit organization that develops, maintains and promotes free, open-source software.”

Each project under the MapLibre umbrella is part of the map visualization stack, from the raw data to the map visualization and interaction. It's a platform that thrives on the collective input from its community and external support such as TomTom's.

Luke Seelenbinder, member of MapLibre's Governing Board, says, “MapLibre succeeds when the community succeeds in creating beautiful maps. We're thrilled to see many companies sponsor us — including TomTom. Each additional sponsor and contributor further enables us to continue building a healthy, welcoming community with well-maintained codebases.”

Many well-known tech companies already use MapLibre in some of their products and actively contribute and provide resources to the project as well. And now TomTom is firmly on that list too.

Felix Faassen, TomTom's Open Source Program Manager, says he is very excited to start collaborating more with the MapLibre community.

“Just like any other tech company, our [TomTom's] business and products rely on open-source software and their communities. That's why it's important to understand which open-source projects are important to your business and learn how to best support the needs of the communities you rely on,” Faassen says.

Faassen also points out that TomTom is early in this journey with MapLibre and is focused on growing its relationship with the project. “Contributing to open-source projects helps build a healthy and sustainable community. One that allows us to keep innovating and building great products,” he adds.

If you want to see where TomTom's donation is going and how it's being managed you can check out TomTom's profile on Open Collective, a platform which helps organizations and collectives (like MapLibre) manage allocation of funds.