Chimani began 2015 as a home-office based startup with big ideas by founders Kerry Gallivan and Shaun Meredith and ended the year as a thriving business with seven employees, an office in Portland, Maine, growing revenue, new business partnerships, and a suite of 20 mobile apps focused on the outdoors — with dozens more in the works.
In a year of many exciting milestones, here are some of the highlights, plus a peek at what’s ahead for Chimani in 2016:
- Raised Series A funding from the Maine Venture Fund, Maine Technology Institute, Maine Angels, and individual investors.
- Named a board of directors that includes Facebook veteran Steve King, Maile Buker from Nike and Timberland, and Preston Junger of Yelp!
- Hired core employees to expand the company’s sales, marketing, editorial, design, and programming efforts.
- Chosen as one of just 9 launch partners for Google’s innovative app indexing and app streaming technologies.
- Was featured at the influential Google I/O conference in San Francisco.
- Partnered with the Maine Islands Trail Association to create a custom mobile guide to the Maine coast.
- Chosen as a semifinalist in the Greenlight Maine competition for startups.
- Launched its third-generation app interface on the Android and iOS platforms, offering a faster and more eye-catching experience for users.
- Rolled out new mobile guides to Denali National Park, Death Valley National Park, Arches National Park, and Canyonlands National Park, with additional apps on Mount Rushmore National Monument and Joshua Tree National Park releasing at year’s end.
With the National Park Service celebrating its 100th birthday in 2016, Chimani plans to join the celebration with several new park apps, including guides to Petrified Forest National Park, Mount Rainier National Park, Hot Springs National Park, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and Haleakala National Park, among others in the pipeline.
“2015 has been a remarkable year of growth and progress for Chimani, and we plan to continue on this roll as we move into the National Parks Centennial year,” says Kerry Gallivan, CEO and co-founder of Chimani.
