Skolkovo has welcomed its latest company to the project – an IT startup that pinpoints your position to within one meter with the help of cutting-edge smartphone algorithms.
Navigine was established in 2011 by two PhD students from Moscow State University and joined Skolkovo’s IT cluster on October 30, becoming its 337th member.
“There are lots of advantages in being a Skolkovo resident,” co-founder Oleg Demidov told sk.ru. “Access to the worldwide network of connections and mentors, Skolkovo’s programs and competitions, the strong PR support, and of course the opportunity to optimize tax expenses and receive grants,” he added.
As with most good innovations, the idea is simple. Navigine is a platform for high-precision indoor location services using existing sensors inside smartphones and Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connectivity.
The technology can be used anywhere from airports to shopping malls; from warehouses to hospitals, and helps with navigation, marketing, analytics, consumer behavior, and staff and vehicle tracking.
“The target is to secure high navigation accuracy without the need to install expensive infrastructure,” the company says in its product literature.
Aside from the obvious find-your-way-around and tracking services, the company also offers the installation of iBeacons around the premises that beam push notifications to phones when customers approach a certain store, for example.
The company says the global market for indoor location services is $579 million in 2014 and set to hit $3.9 billion by 2019.
Navigine identifies three key competitors who, it claims, are unable to match the precision of its service. The closest is a company called Indoors, which Navigine says gets accuracy down to 1 to 5 meters. Navigine pinpoints down to 1-2 meters.
The company has already secured seed financing with Starta Capital, and is seeking $1 million round A financing in the first half of next year.