Wayfindr

What Wayfindr does

Wayfindr is a London-based non-profit social technology organization, founded in 2015 as a joint venture between the Royal Society for Blind Children (RSBC) and the digital product studio ustwo, with the stated mission of enabling blind and partially sighted people to navigate indoor environments independently. The company's principal asset is the Wayfindr Open Standard (ITU-T F.921), the world's first internationally-approved standard for accessible audio navigation, which it makes available free of charge under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license. The standard defines functional characteristics for inclusive audio-based network navigation systems (IABNNS) and is supported by a publicly available reference implementation in the form of an open-source demonstration mobile app hosted on GitHub.

The underlying technology relies on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons, supporting both iBeacon and Eddystone protocols, to deliver synthesized voice commands and audio instructions through standard smartphone accessibility features (VoiceOver on iOS, TalkBack on Android). Beyond the standard itself, Wayfindr generates revenue through paid consultancy services that help venue owners scope, configure, trial, and deploy audio navigation installations. These services cover beacon mapping, audio instruction authoring, live trial facilitation, user research, and full public deployment support, and are sold through direct enterprise engagement alongside partnerships with organisations such as Right-Hear.

Wayfindr serves two primary customer segments: venue owners and operators in transport, retail, healthcare, and public spaces who need to make their facilities accessible, and digital navigation developers seeking consistent standards and interoperability. The organisation operates a hybrid go-to-market combining sales-led direct consultancy with community-led standard stewardship, and has conducted documented trials in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Spain, Norway, and Italy. It maintains a single headquarters in London and operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of RSBC, with no external venture or private equity funding evidenced in the source data.

Name

Wayfindr

Legal name

Wayfindr

Website

https://wayfindr.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Wayfindr is a London-based non-profit that maintains the ITU-T F.921 Open Standard for accessible indoor audio navigation and offers paid consultancy services to help transport operators, retailers, and public venues deploy BLE beacon-based wayfinding for blind and vision-impaired users.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Accessible Indoor Audio Navigation Standards

NAICS

Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (62412), Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (624120)

akta.pro primary industry

Indoor Mapping & Wayfinding Platforms (BPAMANAG)

Keywords

• Accessible indoor navigation
• Audio wayfinding standard
• BLE beacon navigation
• Vision impairment accessibility
• Inclusive transit technology

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Open Standard Licensing (Free): The Wayfindr Open Standard is available to the public at no cost under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. The standard is freely available both during its development and at its final stage.
2. Consultancy and Support Services: Wayfindr provides paid consultancy support including beacon scoping and mapping, Bluetooth Beacon and demo mobile application configuration, creation of audio navigation instructions, facilitation of live audio navigation trials, user recruitment for testing, user research design and execution, and consultancy support for full public deployment.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Wayfindr develops and maintains the Wayfindr Open Standard (ITU-T F.921), the world's first internationally-approved standard for accessible indoor audio navigation for blind and vision impaired people. It provides the specification free of charge, an open-source demonstration mobile app, and paid consultancy services to help venue owners and transport operators scope, configure, trial, and deploy BLE beacon-based audio navigation systems.

Product overview

Wayfindr is an award-winning non-profit social tech organization that has created the world's first internationally-approved standard for accessible indoor audio navigation. The company operates a platform-plus-services model centered on the Wayfindr Open Standard (ITU-T F.921), which provides comprehensive guidance for designing audio-based navigation systems for vision-impaired people. This is complemented by the open-source Wayfindr Demo Mobile App (available on GitHub) that demonstrates the standard's guidelines. Wayfindr also offers professional Consultancy Support services for venue owners and access consultants implementing audio navigation, and maintains a Community network of organizations developing and deploying compliant solutions. The technology uses Bluetooth Low Energy beacons (iBeacon and Eddystone protocols) for indoor positioning, delivering audio navigation instructions through mobile devices.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wayfindr Open Standard (ITU-T F.921) Internationally-approved open standard (ITU-T F.921) providing guidance on designing inclusive audio-based network navigation systems for people who are blind or vision impaired. Available free of charge under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license to designers, developers, venue owners, access consultants, and any interested party.
• Wayfindr Demo Mobile App Open-source demonstration mobile application (iOS) used in Wayfindr trials and serving as a reference implementation of the Open Standard. Enables developers and researchers to use BLE beacons to test and validate audio navigation experiences for vision impaired users.
• Wayfindr Consultancy Support

Quantifiable outcome

• 95% of users would be more likely to use public transit services after using Wayfindr audio navigation
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Los Angeles MetroflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 20192019 landmark trial in Los Angeles combining Wayfindr's open standard with advanced beacon-less technology, showing that 95% of users would be more likely to use public transit services.
• Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Sponsored the second Wayfindr Public Transport Hackathon in November 2018 at AWS office in London. Provides rail safety expertise and standards knowledge.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Hosted the second Wayfindr Public Transport Hackathon at AWS office in London. Provided technical infrastructure and support for the event.
• D-LabcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Partnership with D-Lab as part of work to empower people with disabilities through mobile technologies. Supported the Las Arenas Barcelona trial.
• IlunioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Technology and accessibility company that partnered with Wayfindr to carry out the Las Arenas Shopping Centre trial in Barcelona. Part of ONCE Group.
• Fundacion ONCEminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Supported the Las Arenas Barcelona trial as part of efforts to promote accessibility for people with disabilities.
• GSMAminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Supported the Las Arenas Barcelona trial as part of mobile technology accessibility initiatives.
• Shakespeare's Globe TheatreflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Partnership for audio navigation trial in March 2017 at the theatre in central London. Tested navigation from entrance through to main theatre via elevator.
• Right-HearcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2017Advanced accessibility solution provider and Wayfindr Community Member. Used the Wayfindr Open Standard at the M-Enabling Summit in Washington DC - first use in the United States.
• AbilityNetminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Disability charity that tested the audio navigation guidance at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Provided expert feedback from Adi Latif.
• International Telecommunication Union (ITU)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Approved the Wayfindr Open Standard as ITU-T F.921, the first internationally-approved standard for accessible audio navigation.
• OrganiCityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Partnership with OrganiCity and London Underground for the first Public Transport Hackathon at Imperial College London.
• Royal Society for Blind Children (RSBC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Wayfindr is a subsidiary of RSBC, a charity registered in England and Wales. RSBC brings 175 years of experience working with blind people. The partnership combines RSBC's expertise with ustwo's digital product and user-centred design expertise.
• ustwocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Global digital product studio that co-founded Wayfindr with RSBC Youth Forum. Brings digital product and user-centred design expertise. Developed the initial concept and continues as a core partner.
• Transport for London (TfL)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015TfL has partnered with Wayfindr for multiple audio navigation trials in London Underground stations, including Euston station. TfL participated in hackathons and provided APIs for testing.
• Sydney TrainsflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Partnership with ustwo Sydney and Wayfindr for audio navigation trial at Sydney's Town Hall Station in 2015 - one of the first major trials.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Right-Hear: Right-Hear is an accessibility solutions provider that offers audio wayfinding for visually impaired users in public spaces. It is explicitly mentioned as a Wayfindr Community member and first user of the Wayfindr Open Standard in the United States.
• GoodMaps: GoodMaps provides accessible indoor mapping and wayfinding solutions with a focus on inclusive navigation for vision impaired users, directly competing in the same accessible indoor wayfinding category as Wayfindr.
• BlindSquare: BlindSquare is a widely-used GPS and indoor navigation application for blind and vision impaired users, offering audio-based wayfinding in public venues. It overlaps directly with Wayfindr's accessible audio navigation use case.
• NaviLens: NaviLens develops computer vision-based wayfinding tags and apps for visually impaired users in transport hubs and public buildings. It serves the same accessibility-driven indoor navigation market with a complementary technology approach.
• MapsPeople: MapsPeople is an indoor mapping platform serving enterprises with wayfinding and indoor navigation solutions. While not accessibility-specific, it competes in the same indoor wayfinding category as Wayfindr's platform.

Emerging players

• Microsoft Soundscape: Microsoft Soundscape was a research project providing audio-based 3D navigation for blind users. While discontinued, it represents a tech giant's exploration of the same inclusive audio navigation category Wayfindr addresses.
• Aira: Aira provides on-demand visual interpreting services for blind and low vision users via smart glasses and smartphone cameras. It serves the same end-user population with a different assistive technology approach.
• IndoorAtlas: IndoorAtlas provides indoor positioning technology using geomagnetic and other sensor fusion approaches. It addresses the broader indoor wayfinding infrastructure layer that Wayfindr's BLE beacon and beacon-less solutions also target.

Broad incumbents

• Google Maps Indoor: Google Maps provides indoor mapping and navigation across major venues globally through a broad consumer platform. It is not accessibility-specialized but represents the incumbent scale player in indoor navigation.
• Apple Maps Indoor: Apple Maps includes indoor mapping capabilities in major airports and malls, with built-in accessibility features through VoiceOver. It is a broad incumbent offering that overlaps with Wayfindr's inclusive wayfinding mission.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/wayfindrltd/wayfindr-demo-ios
• Xx.com/WayfindrStd
• Facebookfacebook.com/wayfindr
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wayfindr

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wayfindr