By Cassimir Medford

Irish location-based service specialist Mapflow on Friday said it snagged $11.7 million from United States investor SOSventures.

The company will get the first $5.1 million upfront, but the rest of the investment, $6.6 million, will kick in when the firm hits certain product development and revenue milestones.

Mapflow, which has offices in both Dublin and London, is one of only a handful of startups offering location-tracking services to corporations.  

The cash infusion is only the second round of outside funding for the nine-year-old company. The company got $2 million back in 2002.

To date, a lot of the attention and investment in the location-based services business has been focused on the consumer market.

GPS auto navigation systems for drivers, cell phone-based location services for shoppers and parents, and even location-based dating have gotten a lot of the attention.

In February, Dash Navigation, a Mountain View, California-based in-car navigation specialist pulled down $25 million in its second round to bring its overall total to $35 million (see Dash Finds Path to $25M).

Wide Open Market

Global market research numbers for the overall LBS business range from $14 billion to upwards of $40 billion in total revenue, but it is difficult to measure because anything from local search to commercial GPS could be included.

“It’s a pretty wide market, but we’ve gone after business applications in the insurance and transportation markets,” said Mapflow CEO Richard Bryce. “The consumer navigation market is pretty well established at this stage.”

The company uses a combination of global positioning systems, cellular and mapping technology, and SaaS distribution to give its customers relatively up-to-the minute location data.

“Most companies don’t want the overhead involved in managing mapping and spatial data,” said Mr. Bryce. “We give them the business value of location-based services without the headache of managing the software.”

SOSventures Investments, an Austin, Texas-based investment firm, led the round.