A frustrating trip to the wrong hotel in London sparked an idea for Maltese entrepreneur Simon Borg: if modern technology can pinpoint locations with remarkable accuracy, why are addresses still capable of sending people to the wrong place?
That experience ultimately led him to found GoPeeko, a Malta-born digital addressing platform built around what it calls the GP Code – a simple digital address designed to identify an exact location anywhere in the world.
Speaking to WhosWho.mt, Mr Borg explains that the idea emerged after travelling to London and booking an Ibis hotel.
“I arrived at the address I had been given, only to realise that I was at the wrong Ibis. I had the right hotel name and was in the right city, but I was still at the wrong location,” he says.
The experience highlighted what he saw as a surprisingly persistent problem in an increasingly digital world.
“We have incredibly accurate maps and GPS in our pockets, but people still arrive at the wrong entrance, gate, building or delivery point. In some parts of the world, addresses are inconsistent, incomplete or sometimes there is no proper street address at all.”
GoPeeko's answer is the GP Code, which can represent anything from a home or business to a particular entrance, parking area, event location, delivery point or locker.
Each code comes with its own QR code and can direct users to the location through familiar navigation services including Google Maps, Apple Maps and Waze.
But Mr Borg's ambitions for the technology extend beyond making individual locations easier to find. His longer-term vision is for the system to serve as a consistent global layer for location addressing.
“Different countries have different address systems, formats and postcodes. A GP Code works in the same way wherever you are in the world,” he says.
From Maltese entrepreneur to tech founder
Mr Borg describes himself as a Maltese entrepreneur whose background lies primarily in design, signage, manufacturing and business. He is also the founder of The Sign Factory and has been involved in a number of other businesses over the years.
Despite GoPeeko being a technology-driven venture, he did not come to the project from a software development background.
“I have always enjoyed identifying practical everyday problems and finding ways of making things simpler,” he says.
“GoPeeko started because I saw a problem that I believed could be solved through technology.”
The venture also represents something different from his previous business experience because, he says, it was conceived as an international product from the outset.
“For me, GoPeeko is also a very different type of project because its potential is not limited to Malta. From the beginning, the idea was designed to work globally.”
‘Send me your GP Code’
While logistics and deliveries present an obvious use case, Mr Borg believes the potential audience is much wider.
Individuals can create a free GP Code for their homes, allowing friends, relatives, couriers or service providers to identify the exact location.
Businesses, meanwhile, could use a code to direct customers to a specific entrance rather than a general building or street. Event organisers could identify precise entrances or meeting points, while logistics companies could apply codes to delivery locations, lockers and other infrastructure.
The system could also prove useful in countries or regions where conventional addressing systems are incomplete or inconsistent.
“The idea is very simple: one simple digital address, anywhere in the world,” Mr Borg says.
His ambition is for GP Codes to eventually become part of people's everyday vocabulary.
“We want people eventually to become comfortable saying, ‘Send me your GP Code,’ in the same natural way that today we ask someone to send us their location.”
Thousands of codes registered as GoPeeko explores commercial applications
The platform remains at an early stage, but Mr Borg says thousands of GP Codes have already been registered, with usage recorded in Malta and elsewhere in Europe, as well as Asia, the Middle East and the United States.
The company has also begun exploring how its technology could be deployed on a larger commercial scale. GoPeeko recently exhibited at Parcel+Post Expo at ExCeL London, presenting the system to representatives from the international postal, parcel, delivery and locker industries.
According to Mr Borg, the company secured interest during the event for approximately 50,000 GP Codes for locker markings.
For the founder, that interest was notable because it demonstrated a potential commercial application beyond people simply creating codes for their own locations.
GoPeeko has also been in discussions with organisations operating in the postal, courier, hospitality and logistics sectors over potential integration of GP Codes into their operations.
Meanwhile, the company recently launched its iOS app, allowing users to create and manage their codes through their phones, with an Android version set to follow.
Mr Borg acknowledges that changing a system as deeply ingrained in everyday life as traditional addresses will not happen overnight.
“We are still at an early stage, and changing the way people think about addresses will take time,” he says.
“But that is also what makes the project exciting. Addresses have existed in roughly the same form for generations, and we believe there is an opportunity to create a simple digital layer that works consistently across countries.”
