By: Senior staff writer – Easton Ellsworth

Startup news fans everywhere will be pleased to know that the popular CrunchBase, a free directory of tech startup companies and key employees, now has a map alter ego called CrunchVision.

Thanks go to France-based Mapeed for creating CrunchVision. Mapeed helps companies plug large data sets into Google Maps to create useful mashups. (Not to be confused with the humorous phrase “Ma peed.”)

I’m based in Denver, Colorado and it’s neat to see that where the dozens of tech startups are based in my local area.

The sheer simplicity and speed of Google Maps make it extremely easy to see where startups are located.

There’s no search capability yet for CrunchVision, so you still have to go to CrunchBase.com to look for startups matching your interests.

Down the road, I think it would be great if CrunchVision allowed visitors to filter the map to show only certain sets of companies, such as those founded by teenagers, those having raised at least $10 million USD, those based in cities starting with the letter S, etc.

I’ve just “discovered” CrunchVision in StumbleUpon so it should see a nice little traffic boost from there soon.

Now would be a great time for Mapeed to update their own CrunchBase profile.

How do you like CrunchVision so far? Is it off to a promising start? What’s your number one suggestion for the site?