Indoor navigation is more and more being pitched as the following layer of digital maps. But, scaling it has proved way more advanced than constructing outside navigation.
The explanations are structural. GPS doesn’t work reliably indoors, indoor maps are privately owned reasonably than public items, and every constructing requires customized mapping and permissions, making scale far more durable to attain.
Even firms that cracked indoor location intelligence stopped wanting full navigation. Peter Theil’s Palantir within the US, for example, labored extensively with Wi-Fi alerts, gadget metadata, and sensor knowledge to deduce presence and motion inside buildings—typically with out customers needing to actively hook up with a community. However that functionality was used for situational consciousness, safety, and operational monitoring—not turn-by-turn wayfinding.
Deal with managed environments
A small however rising set of startups in India is now making an attempt to make indoor navigation commercially viable: for client and different companies.
Indoor navigation is usually embedded inside a bigger app corresponding to Google MapsApple Maps and MapmyIndia’s Mappls app or run on proprietary techniques. In lots of deployments, the first goal is to trace staff, property, or stock reasonably than assist guests discover their manner.
Firms corresponding to Rannlab Applied sciences function purely as B2B suppliers, providing indoor positioning techniques accessed by means of enterprise logins for employee security and asset monitoring.
Others, like IWAYPLUS, whereas constructing enterprise-grade indoor maps for venues, additionally allow consumer-facing navigation for guests.
MapmyIndia’s latest acquisition of a 6.06% stake in IWAYPLUS alerts a push to increase its outside navigation stack indoors.
“GPS doesn’t work indoors, indoor maps aren’t publicly obtainable, and each constructing requires collaboration with house owners and operators. That’s why indoor navigation hasn’t scaled the way in which outside navigation did,” mentioned Pulkit Sapra, co-founder of IWAYPLUS. “For giant mapping firms, partnering with specialised indoor navigation suppliers typically makes extra sense than constructing every part from scratch.”
The place adoption is definitely occurring
IWAYPLUS’ purchasers embody AIIMS Jammu, Ashoka College, and Brookfield Candor Techspaces—massive campuses.
beComap, energetic throughout India and the Center East, works with enterprises corresponding to HP, GMR Airports, Honeywell, International Village Dubai, and a number of massive retail and healthcare venues, mentioned Nidhin Chandra Mohan, co-founder on the firm.
A typical industrial deployment for a mid-sized facility (e.g., a mall, hospital, or company workplace) usually ranges from ₹5 lakhs to ₹25 lakh for the preliminary setup, with recurring upkeep charges, in response to the founders talked about right here. For giant airports or warehouses, an ordinary cost ranges from ₹2 to ₹8 per sq. toes for the whole ecosystem.
Rannlab, which does asset/device-based monitoring of warehousing stock and staff expenses ₹3,000 to ₹10,000 per tracked object yearly.
“Indoor positioning solely works when the enterprise case is apparent,” Umesh Kushwaha, CEO on the firm, mentioned. “For us, that’s asset monitoring and employee security, not normal navigation.”
How indoor navigation works
Most indoor navigation techniques depend on Wi-Fi and bluetooth alerts reasonably than GPS. When a consumer enters a constructing, their gadget will be detected in a lot the identical manner Wi-Fi networks detect close by units, even when the consumer doesn’t actively join.
This depends on gadget identifiers corresponding to MAC addresses, that are thought-about personally identifiable info. Because of this, suppliers face stricter compliance and data-protection necessities, significantly in delicate environments corresponding to airports, hospitals, and workplaces.
In observe, this permits exact, real-world use circumstances. At Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Worldwide Airport, for example, customers can search on Google Maps for a selected outlet—say, the closest McDonald’s and be guided by means of the terminal. In massive malls, indoor navigation can direct customers not simply to a retailer, however to the right gate or entrance, lowering confusion.
Globally, the indoor navigation market is estimated at roughly $20.77-$37.54 billion, with an annual progress of 23.1%-41.4%, in response to a report by Bain & Firm. The report mentioned “hyper-localization”—understanding precisely which aisle a buyer is in—will increase “conversion on the shelf” by as much as 20%.
Precision and privateness issues
A number of specialists argue that the core problem is much less indoor versus outside navigation and extra about decision and privateness.
“Out of doors GPS is designed for meters, indoor use circumstances want sub-meter to a couple meters as you’re coping with far denser environments the place alerts are obstructed by partitions, individuals, and supplies. Add multi-storey buildings, the place vertical positioning turns into crucial, and the issue will get more durable,” mentioned Akash Bhatia, co-founder of Infinite Analytics, an AI-based client analytics firm.
Indoor techniques sometimes depend on customized infrastructure—bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and sensors—that varies extensively from constructing to constructing, making standardisation tough.
“These techniques may increase privateness and compliance considerations, significantly when location alerts intersect with gadget identifiers. Because of this, economics typically turns into as difficult because the expertise itself,” added Bhatia. Infinite Analytics works with manufacturers together with Coca-Cola, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Skoda, Brown Forman, and ITC.
Large Tech’s pursuits
The constraints that restrict indoor navigation’s scale haven’t deterred Large Tech; they’ve reshaped how the issue is approached.
Firms corresponding to Google and Apple have embedded indoor maps and positioning into their client platforms, whereas international retailers and logistics gamers, together with Amazon, have funded and deployed indoor mapping, imaginative and prescient, and localisation techniques internally to optimise warehouses and fulfilment centres.
Enterprise capital has adopted an identical sample, backing specialised gamers like Peter Thiel foundation-backed Mappedin in Canada and Finland’s IndoorAtlas that has partnered with Yahoo Japan.
In India, massive telecom gamers are additionally getting into the house. Reliance Jio is constructing location-intelligence platforms corresponding to Jio Xplor that stretch indoor monitoring and navigation by means of telecom- and IoT-led techniques reasonably than standalone client apps.
Public infrastructure is following swimsuit, with deployments corresponding to AIIMS Delhi’s Bluetooth-based Disha app and MapmyIndia’s Delhi Metro integration.
As airports, hospitals, warehouses, and campuses digitise operations, indoor mapping is being absorbed into broader location and analytics stacks. Adoption is now being pushed by necessity.