Verizon acquires SocialRadar, a mapping startup to boost MapQuest

Verizon has acquired Washington DC-based SocialRadar, a social mapping startup for an undisclosed amount.

The brainchild of former Blackboard co-founder Michael Chasen, SocialRadar provides technology that takes users to exact specific location, even to a specific door in a building, with accurate location data.

With this acquisition, Verizon aims to use SocialRadar's technology in MapQuest, the free online web mapping service owned by AOL, which has been focusing more on B2B technologies.

"We started by talking about a partnership," Michael Chasen said. "The acquisition makes the synergy even stronger."

Chasen told TechCrunch that MapQuest’s reach into the developer community will mean that many mobile apps will soon be able to offer far more accurate and responsive location-based features. “We always wanted our tech to be used by as many people as possible,” Chasen said.

SocialRadar will keep its existing offices, but the team is already working alongside the MapQuest team in Denver and other AOL offices to integrate its data and services with MapQuest’s existing tools.

SocialRadar previously raised $12.5 million in a Series A round led by New Enterprise Associates and Growth Tech Ventures.