Purple WiFi acquires indoor navigation specialist

Fast-growth data analytics firm Purple WiFi has acquired US wayfinding business LogicJunction.

In the deal announced, Manchester-headquartered Purple confirmed the takeover of Ohio-based LogicJunction, with the combined businesses operating under the Purple brand. The acquisition is a majority stock deal, with the existing management team and employee base joining the Purple team.

Purple offers a WiFi platform through which businesses can monitor a customers’ shopping patterns and habits, allowing them to communicate with targeted messaging, as well as providing powerful analytics tools.

Complementing its existing business, LogicJunction enhances the Purple portfolio with ‘wayfinding’ technology, providing indoor navigation and location-based systems, allowing them bolster their “intelligent spaces” proposition to their clients.

With global positioning sysyem (GPS) technology ineffective indoors, wayfinding is a system that guides people through a physical environment and is particularly important in complex built environments. It has been identified as the future technology for navigating large uban centres such as shopping centres, supermarkets and hospitals.

Over the last 10 years, LogicJunction has built its business by enabling citizens to navigate the indoors like the outdoors, offering a mobile experience designed to mimic the experience of satellite navigation (sat nav). Its underlying technology utilises WiFi, Bluetooth as well as the geomagnetic force of the Earth, providing low-hardware and high accuracy.

Following today’s acquisition, Purple will now offer one of the most comprehensive and scalable indoor navigation systems, including ahead-of-the-curve location-based indoor positioning, overlaying the service with its existing data analytics portfolio, enhancing both client and end-user experience.