Our Innovation Analysts recently looked into emerging technologies and up-and-coming startups working on innovative solutions across industries. As there is a large number of startups working on a wide variety of solutions, we want to share our insights with you. This time, you will discover 5 promising location-as-a-service startups.
Heat Map: 5 Top Location-as-a-Service Startups
Using our StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, covering 1.379.000+ startups & scaleups globally, we looked at innovation in the field navigation and positioning technologies. For this research, we identified 245 relevant solutions and picked 5 to showcase below. These companies were chosen based on a data-driven startup scouting approach, taking into account factors such as location, founding year, and relevance of technology, among others. Depending on your specific criteria, the top picks might look entirely different.
The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights 5 startups & scaleups developing innovative location-as-a-service solutions. Moreover, the Heat Map reveals regions that observe a high startup activity and illustrates the geographic distribution of all 245 companies we analyzed for this specific topic.
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Loctio – Location Optimization
Off-the-shelf global positioning system (GPS) transmitters typically achieve a location accuracy of 5 meters. With advancements in the Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, positioning devices provide centimeter-level accuracy. Startups use location data to develop solutions for many industries including logistics, transportation, automotive, advertising, and manufacturing.
Greek startup Loctio offers advanced location optimization capabilities for IoT devices and systems. Cloud-based global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) and location-based IoT networks significantly drain battery while transferring data. The startup’s solution, however, enables leveraging the cloud and edge computing to reduce the load on the battery and result in a reduction of overall costs.
ALBORA – Navigation Assistance
The automotive industry uses navigation data, GPS, and sensor networks to identify bends, junctions, and other obstacles on the road. This is particularly important for the development of autonomous vehicles (AVs). Startups use different sensors, including radar, light detection, and ranging (LiDAR), and vision technologies to develop navigation assistance systems for autonomous vehicles.
Spanish startup ALBORA offers a geolocation solution for general positioning, as well as asset tracking and management for industries such as infrastructure, logistics, Industry 4.0, mobility, and automotive. With the help of its proprietary technology, the startup builds secure and accurate positioning solutions on a reconfigurable architecture. The startup’s solutions find applications in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and position navigation and timing (PNT) capabilities.
Yodel Labs – Acoustic Location Processing System
Other than using smartphones to communicate, people also use them for shopping and local navigation, as well as staying safe. For example, during emergencies, smartphones offer easy dialing for assistance and, based on the GPS location of the device, help is deployed. Startups and scaleups develop location processing systems to offer better accuracy of positioning systems.
The US-based startup Yodel Labs works on an acoustic location processing system (ALPS); an indoor positioning system for off-the-shelf smartphones and tablets. The startup leverages ultrasound beacons that are cost-effective and conserve energy consumption. The solution enables applications such as multi-user augmented reality, retail analytics, and next-generation assistive technologies.
Pinmicro – Real-Time Location System (RTLS)
Understanding the movement of assets such as drilling equipment and other tools over a vast mining site ensures smooth operations. Since underutilized assets increase overall costs, companies look to deploy real-time location systems to optimize the utilization of resources. Startups develop RTLS solutions that enable accurate positioning of assets and manpower.
Japanese startup Pinmicro develops a proprietary indoor location identification platform. The real-time location system uses Bluetooth low-energy (BLE) devices and gateways, artificial intelligence (AI), and process location data to deliver accurate positioning information. The solution visualizes these data-points in the form of notifications, alerts, and dashboards. The startup provides its services to multiple industries, including healthcare, logistics, construction, and retail.
Qianxun Spatial Intelligence – Location Tracking
Vehicle tracking is an essential application for the transportation and logistics industries. With the help of location data, corporations optimize costs such as fuel and overheads. Vehicle tracking platforms and software leverage advanced analytics and big data techniques to improve efficiency. This encourages startups to develop navigation assistance solutions to improve the operations of autonomous vehicles.
Chinese startup Qianxun Spatial Intelligence develops Chihiro Intelligent Driving, a suite of high-precision positioning location tracking solutions for the automotive industry. The startup uses geosynchronous satellites to improve convergence time and integrity as well as reliability, continuity, and consistency. Thereby, the solution enables dual broadcasting to provide continuous and dynamic centimeter-level positioning services for any region.
What About The Other 240 Solutions?
While we believe data is key to creating insights it can be easy to be overwhelmed by it. Our ambition is to create a comprehensive overview and provide actionable innovation intelligence and enable you to achieve your goals faster. The 5 location-as-a-service startups showcased above are promising examples out of 245 we analyzed for this article. To identify the most relevant solutions based on your specific criteria, get in touch.
