While tech giants focus their efforts on orbital constellations and planetary coverage, a French startup traces a opposite path. Founded in Montpellier in 2020, Wheere Ties at a dead angle of modern geolocation, the interior of buildings, partitioned areas, tunnels, warehouses, power plants. A set of spaces that still escape GPS. To talk about it we receive in FW Business Pierre-Arnaud Coquelin, co-founder and CEO of Wheere at the microphone of Richard Menneveux.
“The GPS works very well outside, at the nearest 2 or 3 meters, or even 1 cm with RTK. But as soon as you pass a door, everything stops. And so far there was no reliable solution to locate what is happening within an industrial site, even less of a city or the globe ”, explain Pierre-Arnaud Coquelinco -founder and CEO of Wheere.
Geolocation where GPS fails
The technology developed by Wheere allows you to locate objects and people with precision less than one meterwithout network, without satellite, simply with Four exterior antennas per square kilometer. It is based on Low frequencies (VHF) waves capable of Cross concrete and wallscombined with patented position calculation algorithms.
“Where the others have to install thousands of beacons – up to 1,000 for a hospital – there are four of us, outside. And we cover the whole building. No other technology does that. »»
Protected by two international patents, the solution does not require network connection or dense infrastructure. This is what in fact, according to Coquelin, a rupture technology.
Critical use cases, strong industrial traction
Wheere has identified three priority markets: the Civil and military securityL’Industry 4.0and the Critical sites.
- In emergency interventions, it allows you to follow the firefighters in real time inside a fire building.
- In industry, it is used to draw spare parts, mobile platforms or machines shared on large and complex sites.
- In power stations, offshore platforms or sensitive infrastructure, it monitors robots, staff or high -value objects.
“When you ask a large industrial group about its indoor geolocation needs, the answer is still yes. But everyone has a very specific use case. Follow a molten metal pocket at ArcelorMittal, or a € 200,000 dial key to another. »»
A complementary spatial strategy, not competing
If Wheere starts with the ground, she doesn’t stop there. The company provides for Launch five satellites in 2026Then A constellation of 300 satellites by 2030For extend its service on a global scalewithout local infrastructure.
“Our goal is that in the long term, geolocation works like GPS: we light your phone, we locate ourselves in and outside, without installing anything. This is what we are targeting with our constellation Leo-Pnt. »»
But unlike Starlink or sovereign projects carried by ESA or NASA, Wheere does not try to redund the GPS: she wants Add the indoor brick to global geolocation.
“Current low orbit projects add precision or redundancy. None can locate inside a building. This is what we bring. »»
A French Deeptech with global ambitions
After a lifting of 13 million euros in 2023Wheere prepares a series A of 40 millionfirst step in a financing plan for 200 million euros until 2030. The company remains anchored in Montpellier for its R&D, but opened a first office in Palo Altofor American deployment – 50 % of the indoor tracking market Concentrates there.
Its ambition is to appear, within five years, Alongside the major GNSS constellationsin the embedded geolocation modules of smartphones and connected objects.
“From 2030, there will be the American GPS, Galileo, Beidou, and Wheere. We will coexist with them. And we will allow you to locate everywhere, all the time. »»
