Google Maps competitor PamPam wants maps to be fun, to create communities

PamPam quietly launched in December 2023, and Jaramillo quit his full-time job at Figma earlier this year. Its co-founder, Carlo Jörges, splits his time between a full-time job and building PamPam on the side.

Before PamPam, the two worked at design and productivity startups as well as Big Tech companies like Google and Facebook. Jörges, in particular, worked on the Google Maps product.

Jaramillo and Jörges, who happen to be married and met while at Google, are inspired by maps as designers and came up with the idea for PamPam after moving to Philadelphia.

“We’ve lived in so many different places, so we’ve always had to orient ourselves around a new place,” Jaramillo said. “I used all these apps obviously to do that, Google Maps or get lists or recommendations from friends, but it just never felt right.”

But map apps like Google Maps and Apple Maps, which are dictated by mass reviews, ads and algorithms, are limited in what they offer.

“We can search for any place and get directions to any place in the world, which is great,” Jörges said. “What doesn’t work, from our point of view, helps me decide where to go.”

PamPam is trying to step into that recommendation and discovery space.

“This space of helping people decide where to go and find places that are relevant to them still feels unsolved,” added Jörges. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned working on Facebook events and community features, it’s that people want to find places where there are other like-minded people.

Are maps social networks?

From Snapchat to dating apps, social media is no stranger to maps.

The team behind Zenly, which Snapchat acquired and turned into its Snap Map feature, is building another new social map app called “Bump.” Exclusive dating app Raya has launched a sister app called Places, which includes reviews of restaurants, hotels and bars. Even Instagram is getting back into the map action with a test of a new maps feature for nearby friends to share their last active location or add notes to a particular place.

“We see a trend of sharing more people in smaller circles, and we see an opportunity for people to come together around these viewpoints, around these maps,” Jörges said.

On PamPam, maps represent content. And behind the content are creators.

PamPam sees its creators as “community creators,” Jaramillo explained. Even if they’re promoting events or places, they’re usually trying to build communities or bring digital communities IRL.

Jaramillo also sees use cases for travel and lifestyle creators to use PamPam. For example, a travel blogger might create a map of the sites to see in a city; a lifestyle influencer could identify the best restaurants and events.

With roots working on YouTube ads, PamPam’s founders are already considering creator monetization as well. In theory, creators could charge followers for access to a map or work with brands on sponsored maps, Jaramillo said.

But in the meantime, PamPam is focused on building its use case for everyday people, not just creators and curators.

“Everyone has places in their lives that are important to them that they would like to share,” she said.

Ultimately, PamPam wants to help people “get out there and do things,” Jaramillo said. “Maps are super actionable.”

Starting a social startup

To date, PamPam has not raised venture capital, but has received $10,000 from a local grant in Philadelphia and is backed by its founders.

The two-person team knows full well that scaling a platform will take time and experimentation—two things that venture capital doesn’t have much leeway over.

However, monetization is already on the agenda.

PamPam has no ads and is experimenting with a freemium model. In addition to a free version, it offers premium subscriptions with “Pro” tiers at $12 per month and “Business” at $29 per month, which unlock benefits such as the ability to expand maps with multiple destinations and optimize maps for a wider coverage.

“We want to make this a sustainable business,” Jaramillo said.