Montpellier: Wheere, the indoor GPS, visits Las Vegas at CES

Les cofondateurs de Wheere. DR – DR

Montpellier-based start-up Wheere will present its indoor geolocation technology at CES in Las Vegas in January 2025, the first international tech show of the year. This technology passes through 50 meters of concrete, and aims for miniaturization down to 8 mm. The company also plans a constellation of 300 satellites by 2027-2028 for global coverage without the need for antennas, targeting the health, industry and security sectors.

Wheere, the Montpellier deeptech start-up that wants to create indoor geolocation, is preparing its big landing at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas. From January 7 to 10, 2025. The company with 25 employees will be present in the Eureka Park space, within the delegation of Occitanie companies. The company will be exhibited within the village set up by the Region. Wheere will unveil its technology for the first time to international prospects and investors.

It is based on an innovative tracking system, capable of traversing up to 50 meters of concrete.

A sensor that has considerably reduced its volume: initially a heavy and energy-intensive 5 cm by 5 cm box, Wheere has developed a 2 cm by 2 cm module, which consumes 10 times less energy. The final objective is to create a chip of only 8 mm by 8 mm.

A miniaturized device

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The new miniaturized version of Wheere's tracker. DR – DR

“Our ultimate goal is to no longer have to deploy antennas” explains Pierre-Arnaud Coquelin, co-founder and director of the company. However, to avoid deploying antennas all over the globe, the company is aiming to put a constellation of 300 satellites into orbit by 2027-2028, to provide global coverage.

In this regard, a market study recently commissioned by the company is thus encouraging for its projects. The indoor location market with antennas represents a total of 17 billion dollars, but could reach 138 billion with a global satellite solution.

Read also: Montpellier: the start-up Wheere invents the GPS that also goes indoors

The company initially positioned itself on niche markets such as security. It works in particular with the Paris fire brigade and specialized intervention units.

Wheere has signed three contracts with manufacturers to equip production sites, which aim to monitor isolated people or valuable objects.

At CES, the startup will present its solution in three main sectors: health, industry and security. The company is scheduled to speak at a keynote on the theme “Safety first: how indoor geolocation is transforming security protocols”.

A fundraising round in preparation

The company is preparing a major Franco-American fundraising round to finance its development. Wheere aims to double its workforce by the end of the year, with the opening of an American subsidiary, located in Palo Alto, California.

The start-up aims to launch its first experimental satellites in June 2026.

The Region and its start-ups present at the CES tech show

For the eleventh consecutive year, the regional economic development agency Ad’Occ is supporting a selection of regional start-ups at the CES show in Las Vegas, the first international tech event of the year. This show is a key event in the sector, which brought together more than 135,000 participants last year. This regional presence, once again materialized this year by a 250 m2 village dedicated to these start-ups, was however significantly reduced this year. It has in fact decreased to only 11 local companies, compared to an average of twenty in previous years. The participating structures this trip follow a specific training which is spread over several weeks.

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