Apple Buys Startup Mapsense In Continuing Mapping Push: Report

Apple Inc. bought San Francisco mapping startup Mapsense for $25 million to $30 million, Recode reported Wednesday, part of an ongoing effort to build out its maps to challenge rival Google Inc. The two-year-old startup had raised $2.5 million in seed funding and had 12 employees, according to the report. Recode's report arrives a day after The Register detailed a secretive 3-D-mapping effort Apple has reportedly built in Sweden. Apple launched its Apple Maps rival to Google Maps in 2012, but then-new CEO Tim Cook had to apologize to users for the app's failures not long after it was released. Since then, Apple has tried to improve its mapping capabilities, including through other acquisitions like the purchase of GPS firm Coherent Navigation earlier this year. Apple shares closed with a 0.1% gain at $116.41, and that price did not change after the acquisition report landed during late trading.