Purple
Purple is a UK-headquartered cloud-native WiFi software platform unifying guest, staff, and multi-tenant WiFi with analytics, marketing automation, and zero-trust security across 80,000+ venues in 90+ countries, serving enterprise customers in hospitality, retail, transport, education, healthcare, and public sector.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersOldham, United Kingdom
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Purple does
Purple is a UK-headquartered WiFi software company founded in 2012 that operates a cloud-native platform unifying guest, staff, and multi-tenant WiFi as a software overlay on existing access point hardware. The platform provides branded captive portals, WiFi analytics (footfall, dwell, repeat visits, demographics), marketing automation via LogicFlow, certificate-based zero-trust authentication for staff, and iPSK-based isolated networks for multi-dwelling environments. Underlying technology includes a cloud-hosted RADIUS service with 99.999% uptime SLA, native SAML/SCIM integrations with Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, and Google Workspace, OpenRoaming/Passpoint federation support, and an AI-powered natural language query layer for analytics. The portfolio is sold across three tiers — Connect (free), Capture (paid analytics), and Engage (premium CRM/marketing automation) — with add-ons including Shield DNS filtering, Verify, Paid WiFi, and the ConneX consumer app for seamless roaming.
Purple serves a diversified customer base spanning hospitality, retail, travel and transport, events and attractions, education, public sector, residential (MDU), and corporate/coworking verticals, with named enterprise customers including Harrods, McDonald's, Walmart Canada, Manchester Airports Group, AGS Airports, Premier Inn, Whitbread, Stonegate Pub Company, NHS Trusts, and multiple universities. The platform supports 80,000+ venues across 90+ countries and processes 440 million annual logins from a cumulative user base approaching 500 million. Purple has reported profitability exceeding £1M and holds ISO 27001, ISO 9001, Cyber Essentials, GDPR/CCPA compliance, and B Corp certifications.
The business model combines subscription recurring revenue (Connect/Capture/Engage tiers across guest, staff, and multi-tenant WiFi), add-on subscriptions (Shield, Verify, customer surveys), and professional services for complex multi-site deployments. Go-to-market mixes enterprise field sales for large venues with product-led growth via the free Connect tier and join.purple.ai for SMBs, complemented by a channel partner program, a Google Cloud Marketplace listing, and direct ecommerce for add-ons. Funding history includes BGF £10.5M growth capital in October 2023 and earlier rounds from BOOST&Co, Juno Capital Partners, William Currie Group, and Pitch@Palace, with BGF as the current institutional anchor.
Purple firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Purple
- Legal name
- Purple WiFi Ltd
- Website
- https://purple.ai
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Purple is a UK-headquartered cloud-native WiFi software platform unifying guest, staff, and multi-tenant WiFi with analytics, marketing automation, and zero-trust security across 80,000+ venues in 90+ countries, serving enterprise customers in hospitality, retail, transport, education, healthcare, and public sector.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Purple industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Enterprise WiFi Software & Analytics
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Wireless Networking Services (Wi‑Fi, Private LTE/5G) (BPAEAEAE)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Data Security & Privacy Managed Services (DLP/Encryption) (BPAEADAL)
Keywords
Where Purple is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Oldham
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Purple business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Subscription - Guest WiFi Plans: Tiered subscription model with three main plans: Connect (free), Capture (paid), and Engage (premium paid). Each tier offers increasing functionality including analytics, CRM integration, and marketing automation. Annual and multi-year billing options available with potential discounts. Up-sell motion from free to paid tiers is a key revenue driver.
- Subscription - Staff WiFi: Enterprise subscription for staff/employee WiFi with certificate-based authentication, identity provider integration, and automated lifecycle management. Priced per user or per location with enterprise volume pricing.
- Subscription - Multi-Tenant WiFi: Subscription model for multi-dwelling environments (student housing, built-to-rent, hotels) providing isolated networks per tenant with iPSK technology. Revenue scales with number of tenants or units.
- Add-Ons and Premium Features: Additional paid features including extra security (Shield), customer surveys, and other add-ons beyond base plan functionality. These provide expansion revenue from existing customers.
- Professional Services: Implementation, configuration, and ongoing professional services for complex multi-site deployments. Includes captive portal design, data migration from previous platforms, and custom integrations.
- Paid WiFi / Tiered Access: Optional paid WiFi tiers where venues can offer free basic access and premium paid WiFi for higher bandwidth or enhanced features. Revenue share opportunities with venues.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Free | Free guest WiFi solution for venues |
| Subscription | Annual | Most popular guest WiFi with analytics |
| Subscription | Annual | Ultimate solution with full automation |
| Subscription | Annual | Additional security and features |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels9 records
Purple product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Purple provides a cloud-native WiFi software platform that operates as an overlay on existing access point hardware, delivering unified guest, staff, and multi-tenant WiFi with branded captive portals, visitor analytics, marketing automation, and zero-trust security. The platform is offered through three primary tiers (Connect free, Capture paid, Engage premium) and is deployed across 80,000+ venues in 90+ countries serving hospitality, retail, healthcare, education, public sector, transport, and multi-dwelling customers.
Product overview
Purple offers a unified WiFi platform with three core tiers (Connect, Capture, Engage) supporting guest, staff, and multi-tenant networks. The platform provides captive portal, visitor analytics, marketing automation, and passwordless authentication capabilities. Key add-on modules include SecurePass (OpenRoaming), Shield (DNS filtering), RADIUS-as-a-Service, and WPA2/3-Enterprise security. The portfolio extends via the ConneX mobile app for seamless roaming and dedicated SMB (join.purple.ai) and enterprise solutions. Integration ecosystem includes identity providers (Entra ID, Okta, Google Workspace), 70+ CRM platforms, and SIEM tools. The company holds ISO 27001, ISO 9001, Cyber Essentials, and B Corp certifications.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Purple Connect: Free guest WiFi solution for venues
- Purple Capture
- Purple Engage
- Purple Sense
- Purple App
- SecurePass
- Shield
- LogicFlow
Products and services
- Connect
Quantifiable outcome
- 57x return on investment at Harrods
- +10 more outcomes
Companies that use Purple
Customer profileNamed customers25 records
Segments10 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Purple technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration16 records
AI capability2 records
Feature10 records
Purple partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.
- Splash AccesscorePurple announced merger with Splash Access, a specialized WiFi provider focused on secure WiFi solutions for education and multi-dweller environments. The merger aims to create a comprehensive and secure global connectivity platform, combining Purple's large-scale WiFi network with Splash Access's advanced security features and specialized Cisco platform expertise.
- Google Cloud MarketplacesupportingPurple is available on Google Cloud Marketplace, making it easier for businesses to access Purple's WiFi analytics and engagement solutions through Google Cloud procurement.
- CiscocorePurple is compatible with Cisco Meraki and other Cisco wireless access points. The partnership with Splash Access consolidates Purple's guest WiFi network with Splash Access's specialized Cisco platform to enhance service features.
- MicrosoftcorePurple integrates with Microsoft Entra ID for certificate-based staff WiFi authentication. Supports SCIM provisioning and conditional access. Purple also supports webhooks and syslog to Microsoft Sentinel for SIEM integration.
- OktacorePurple integrates with Okta as an identity provider for staff WiFi authentication, enabling single sign-on and automated lifecycle management.
- Google WorkspacecorePurple integrates with Google Workspace for staff WiFi authentication, allowing employees to use existing Google accounts for network access.
- HPE ArubacorePurple is compatible with HPE Aruba wireless access points, enabling enterprises with Aruba infrastructure to deploy Purple WiFi solutions.
- Ruckus NetworkscorePurple is compatible with Ruckus wireless access points, supporting multi-vendor deployments.
- Juniper MistcorePurple is compatible with Juniper Mist wireless access points, supporting enterprise deployments.
- Ubiquiti UniFicorePurple supports Ubiquiti UniFi access points natively, enabling budget-conscious and UniFi-ecosystem deployments.
Scale indicators18 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights7 records
Purple competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Cloud4Wi: Direct competitor offering a cloud-based guest WiFi, captive portal, and location analytics platform for venues globally. Closely mirrors Purple's value proposition across hospitality, retail, and transportation verticals.
- Linkyfi: Direct competitor in guest WiFi marketing, analytics, and automation with multi-vertical coverage (hospitality, retail, transport). Competes head-to-head on captive portal and CRM integration capabilities.
- Social WiFi: Direct peer offering social-login guest WiFi, marketing automation, and analytics for SMB and mid-market venues in EMEA. Comparable business model and pricing structure to Purple's Capture/Engage tiers.
- Zenreach: Direct competitor in guest WiFi marketing and customer data platform for restaurants and retail in North America. Competes on similar first-party data capture and remarketing use cases.
- Splash Access: Specialized WiFi provider focused on secure solutions for education and multi-dwelling environments; merged with Purple in November 2025. Highly comparable on technology (Cisco platform expertise) and verticals (education, MDU).
Broad incumbents
- Cisco (Cisco Spaces): Broad incumbent whose Cisco Spaces platform (formerly DNA Spaces) delivers location analytics, captive portal, and IoT services. Bundles with Cisco Meraki/Catalyst hardware refreshes, posing a structural threat to Purple's standalone SaaS model.
- HPE Aruba Networking: Broad incumbent offering captive portal, ClearPass policy management, and location-based services natively on Aruba WiFi infrastructure. Competes with Purple's Staff WiFi and multi-tenant offerings via integrated hardware/software bundles.
- Juniper Mist: Broad incumbent in AI-driven enterprise networking with Mist location services and captive portal capabilities. Pairs hardware refresh with cloud-delivered services similar to Purple's overlay model.
- Fortinet: Broad incumbent in secure networking with FortiAP WiFi and FortiGate security fabric offering captive portal, NAC, and analytics. Competes with Purple's Shield DNS filtering and zero-trust staff WiFi.
Emerging players
- Yumemi (formerly Turnstyle/Yelp WiFi): Emerging player in guest WiFi analytics and marketing for venues; offers comparable location-based engagement capabilities at smaller scale, often competing in the same retail/hospitality RFPs as Purple.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Purple social profiles
Digital presencePurple compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance5 records
Purple financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Purple leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles12 records
Purple subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries5 records
Purple funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds6 records
Investors6 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Purple M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Purple
What does Purple do?
Purple provides a cloud-native WiFi software platform that operates as an overlay on existing access point hardware, delivering unified guest, staff, and multi-tenant WiFi with branded captive portals, visitor analytics, marketing automation, and zero-trust security. The platform is offered through three primary tiers (Connect free, Capture paid, Engage premium) and is deployed across 80,000+ venues in 90+ countries serving hospitality, retail, healthcare, education, public sector, transport, and multi-dwelling customers.
Is Purple a public or private company?
Purple is a private company. It is classified as private equity controlled and is currently operating.
When was Purple founded?
Purple was founded in 2012. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Purple based?
Purple is headquartered in Oldham, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Purple make money?
Six revenue lines are on record. Subscription - Guest WiFi Plans are the primary driver. The others are subscription - Staff WiFi, subscription - Multi-Tenant WiFi, add-Ons and Premium Features, professional Services and paid WiFi / Tiered Access.
Who are Purple's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Cloud4Wi, Linkyfi, Social WiFi, Zenreach and Splash Access. Broad incumbents are Cisco (Cisco Spaces), HPE Aruba Networking, Juniper Mist and Fortinet. Yumemi (formerly Turnstyle/Yelp WiFi) is listed as an emerging player.
Does Purple have an API?
No public API is recorded for Purple.
What industry is Purple in?
Purple's product category is Enterprise WiFi Software & Analytics. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEAEAE, Wireless Networking Services (Wi‑Fi, Private LTE/5G), with a secondary code of BPAEADAL, Data Security & Privacy Managed Services (DLP/Encryption). Its NAICS code is 5182 and its SIC code is 7370.