GapMaps has become the go-to location intelligence platform for franchise operators planning physical network expansion across Asia, the Middle East, and Australasia. Founded in Melbourne, Australia by Anthony Villanti, the cloud-based SaaS platform now tracks thousands of brands and millions of points of interest globally — giving master franchisees the data they need to select sites, map territories, and evaluate competitive density before committing capital.
GapMaps is a cloud-based location intelligence and GIS mapping platform headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. It serves franchise operators, investment groups, and holding companies across 20+ countries including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, India, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Vietnam. In April 2026, the company appointed Peter Holmes as CEO to lead global expansion, while founder Anthony Villanti continues to drive the product vision.
Site selection is the single highest-stakes decision a master franchisee makes — and the one where data consistently outperforms intuition. GapMaps Live eliminates guesswork by integrating household demographics, resident and worker population data, mobility flows, competitor brand locations, and drive-time catchments into a single browser-based interface. The platform curates, checks, and updates demographic data down to granular geographic levels, allowing operators to make confident location decisions based on verifiable facts rather than broker pitches.
For international franchise investors entering Asian markets, GapMaps addresses a critical pain point: the data infrastructure gap. In many emerging markets, reliable demographic and competitive data simply does not exist in a consolidated, accessible format. GapMaps has invested heavily in building proprietary datasets across Southeast Asia and the GCC — a competitive moat that generic mapping tools cannot match.
The site selection workflow inside GapMaps Live follows a four-step process designed for how master franchisees actually evaluate territory. First, operators define the success profile by selecting their top-performing existing locations — the platform extracts catchment characteristics including population density, household income, age distribution, daytime workforce, and competitor density.
Second, the system scans the target market — whether a single city, region, or entire country — for trade areas whose catchment characteristics match the high-performing reference set, then ranks them by similarity score. Third, operators can layer competitor data to identify gaps in the market where demand exists but supply is limited. Fourth, the platform generates detailed catchment reports for shortlisted sites, ready for board-level investment decisions.
This data-driven approach has been adopted by major franchise systems including quick-service restaurant chains, fitness franchise operators like Crunch Fitness, and service franchise brands like Sanondaf that need to optimize coverage across dispersed territories.
GapFinder is GapMaps’ automated location recommendation tool that identifies untapped territories where a brand can profitably expand. By analyzing existing store coverage, competitor density, and demographic fit simultaneously, GapFinder surfaces opportunities that manual analysis would miss — particularly valuable for master franchisees managing multi-unit rollouts across unfamiliar markets.
GapMaps’ strongest data depth sits in Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, the GCC (especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE), Hong Kong, and selected North American markets. The platform’s Data Marketplace allows operators to layer additional datasets — mobility data, point-of-interest databases, and sector-specific intelligence — onto the core demographic foundation.
In 2026, GapMaps expanded its Saudi Arabia segmentation data and added additional Southeast Asian datasets through the Data Marketplace, deepening coverage in the two regions where franchise expansion activity is most intense. The company is increasingly the default tool used by institutional, multi-unit franchisees that now dominate major brands across QSR, fitness, and education sectors.
The appointment of Peter Holmes as CEO in April 2026 signals a clear shift toward accelerated international growth. Holmes brings extensive experience in scaling enterprise SaaS businesses and building commercial teams in new markets. Founder Anthony Villanti continues to work alongside Holmes as the business pursues overseas expansion across Asia, MENA, and the Americas.
For investors and franchise operators evaluating location intelligence solutions, GapMaps’ combination of deep regional data, franchise-specific workflows, and a minimum investment of US$15,000 positions it as an accessible entry point compared to enterprise GIS platforms that require significantly larger commitments and longer implementation timelines.
GapMaps is a cloud-based location intelligence and GIS mapping platform headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. It helps franchise operators, investment groups, and brands make data-driven site selection and territory planning decisions across 20+ countries.
The minimum investment level for GapMaps is US$15,000. Specific territory fees, licensing terms, and pricing tiers are available upon request through VF Franchise Consulting or GapMaps directly.
GapMaps offers data coverage across 23 countries spanning Australia, New Zealand, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and the GCC — with the deepest datasets in Australia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Hong Kong.
This article was prepared by the VF Franchise Consulting editorial team — with over 30 years of experience in international franchise development, master franchise advisory, and brand expansion across Asia and the Middle East.
