Maverick Research, a leading African market intelligence and technology company, has announced the launch of Mapela.IO, an AI-powered mapping and retail census platform designed to transform how businesses understand and navigate emerging markets.
Powered by technology acquired from Lengo AI, Mapela.io introduces a step-change in the speed, scale, and accuracy of market intelligence, enabling companies to map, classify, and structure retail ecosystems in days rather than months.
Across emerging economies, a significant portion of commerce takes place in informal and fragmented retail channels — from kiosks and open market stalls to neighbourhood shops. Historically, capturing this data has been resource-intensive, slow, and often incomplete. Mapela.io addresses this structural gap by leveraging advanced computer vision and machine learning trained on over 1.5 million retail outlets across 80 emerging markets.
“Mapela.io is a defining milestone in Maverick’s evolution into a technology-enabled intelligence platform,” said Ato Micah, Managing Principal of Maverick Research. “We are fundamentally changing how markets are mapped and understood. What once required months of fieldwork can now be delivered in a matter of days — at significantly lower cost and with greater accuracy.”
The platform enables rapid identification, classification, and geo-location of retail outlets across both formal and informal trade, providing businesses with a structured, real-time view of where commerce happens. This capability is particularly critical for companies in sectors such as FMCG, telecommunications, and financial services, where route-to-market efficiency and distribution coverage are key drivers of growth.
By integrating Mapela.io into its broader ecosystem, Maverick Research now offers a more comprehensive intelligence solution — combining market mapping, outlet structure, and performance data within a single, scalable platform.
Mapela.io delivers up to 70% faster retail census execution and up to 40% lower costs, while providing enhanced visibility into informal and underserved markets to support sharper decision-making for market entry and expansion.
The launch of Mapela.io builds on Maverick’s established footprint across West and Central Africa, where the company tracks over 60 FMCG categories and approximately 15,000 SKUs per country each month through its retail audit infrastructure.
With Mapela.io, Maverick is extending its capabilities beyond measurement to market creation and visibility, enabling clients to identify whitespace opportunities, optimise distribution networks, and scale more efficiently across geographies. The platform is now available to clients, with pilot deployments already underway
