Ubiscale
Ubiscale is a French deep-tech company developing ultra-low-power geolocation (GNSS and Wi-Fi) for IoT, shipping the Ubi.cloud positioning API and the Cobalt GNSS receiver IP core for chipmakers, alongside custom IoT engineering services for industrial, logistics, wearables, and smart-city customers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersRennes, France
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Ubiscale does
Ubiscale SAS is a French private company founded in 2015 and headquartered in Cesson-Sévigné, near Rennes, that develops low-power geolocation technologies for Internet-of-Things devices. Its portfolio is organized around two complementary product lines: Ubi.cloud, a cloud-based positioning API whose UbiGNSS and UbiWiFi modules shift power-draining GPS and Wi-Fi processing to the cloud, claiming up to 10x reductions in receiver on-time versus conventional cold-start GPS and native Wi-Fi sniffing; and Cobalt, a software-defined GNSS receiver IP core (supporting GPS, Galileo, and BeiDou with sub-2.5m accuracy and shared-resources operation with cellular/LPWA modems) that is co-developed with CEVA on the CEVA-DSP X1 platform for direct integration into System-on-Chip designs. The company also delivers custom engineering and design services spanning geolocation, connectivity (Sigfox, LoRa, NB-IoT, LTE-M, BLE, WiFi), and embedded firmware.
The business model combines three revenue streams: IP core licensing/royalties on Cobalt to chipset makers and SoC designers, pay-as-you-go or lifetime license subscriptions for the Ubi.cloud positioning API, and bespoke engineering/design services. GTM is hybrid: direct enterprise sales through website CTAs (Request a demo, Contact us) layered with an OEM/embedded motion via IP licensing into silicon and via embedded software libraries inside IoT devices. Customers and partners include Orange, Orange Labs, Deutsche Telekom, Sagemcom, Sigfox (since 2016), Sensolus, Siccom, Ekolis, and CEVA, alongside a publicly unnamed tier-1 semiconductor customer for Cobalt announced March 2022. Vertical targets are logistics and supply chain (pallets, containers, unpowered assets), smart industries and smart cities (tools, public assets, shared fleets), wearables/worker safety, and precision agriculture.
Ubiscale has been primarily funded through European institutional grants rather than disclosed venture capital — the EU SME Instrument (June 2017, ~€50K) and the EUSPA Fundamental Elements programme for the Galileo-of-Things project (November 2019, €1.3M). The team remains lean (1-10 employees), co-led by CEO/CTO Mikaël Guenais and co-founder Samuel Ryckewaert. The company holds a registered Ubi.cloud trademark and filed its first patent in June 2016, and has accumulated multiple innovation awards from EU GNSS bodies, GeoIoT World, and the Horizon 2020 programme.
Ubiscale firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Ubiscale
- Legal name
- UBISCALE SAS
- Website
- https://ubiscale.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Ubiscale is a French deep-tech company developing ultra-low-power geolocation (GNSS and Wi-Fi) for IoT, shipping the Ubi.cloud positioning API and the Cobalt GNSS receiver IP core for chipmakers, alongside custom IoT engineering services for industrial, logistics, wearables, and smart-city customers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Ubiscale is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Rennes
- HQ country
- France
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Ubiscale business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- IP Core Licensing (Cobalt): Licensing of Cobalt GNSS IP core to chipset makers and System-on-Chip designers. The IP is available for demonstration on CEVA-DSP platform and can be licensed for integration into customer semiconductor products.
- Ubi.cloud API Services: Cloud-based positioning API services with flexible business models including pay-as-you-go or lifetime licenses. Operates with all LPWA networks including Sigfox, LoRa, NB-IoT, LTE-M.
- Engineering and Design Services: Custom design and engineering services including IoT product development, geolocation technology integration, connectivity solutions, and embedded firmware design.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Pay-as-you-go model for Ubi.cloud API services |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Lifetime license model for Ubi.cloud |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Ubiscale product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Ubiscale provides ultra-low-power geolocation technology for Internet-of-Things devices. Its portfolio includes Cobalt, a GNSS receiver IP core licensed to chipset makers for System-on-Chip integration, and Ubi.cloud, a cloud-based positioning platform (with UbiGNSS and UbiWiFi) that shifts power-intensive GPS and Wi-Fi processing to the cloud. The company also offers custom IoT engineering and design services.
Product overview
Ubiscale offers a dual-product portfolio for IoT geolocation: Ubi.cloud (cloud-based software platform with UbiGNSS and UbiWIFI embedded technologies) that shifts GPS/Wi-Fi processing to the cloud for power reduction, and Cobalt (ultra-low-power GNSS receiver IP core) for direct chip integration. Both products address the IoT challenge of power-constrained geolocation, with Ubi.cloud targeting device makers seeking software-only solutions and Cobalt serving chipset makers requiring hardware IP. The company also provides engineering services for custom IoT product design spanning geolocation, connectivity, embedded firmware, and full product development.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Ubi.cloud: Cloud-based software platform that shifts power-draining GPS and Wi-Fi processing to the cloud for IoT tracking devices
- Cobalt
- UbiGNSS
- UbiWifi
Products and services
- Ubi.cloud Cloud-based software platform that shifts power-draining GPS/GNSS and Wi-Fi processing to the cloud, reducing receiver chipset power consumption by up to 10x. Includes UbiGNSS for outdoor satellite positioning and UbiWiFi for indoor/urban geolocation, available via pay-as-you-go or lifetime licenses.
- Cobalt Ultra-low-power GNSS receiver IP core for System-on-Chip integration, supporting GPS, Galileo, and BeiDou constellations with sub-2.5m position accuracy. Designed to share computational resources with cellular/LPWA modems, minimizing device footprint and bill-of-materials for IoT chipset designers.
- IoT Engineering Services Custom design services covering satellite-based GPS/GNSS and terrestrial RSSI/TDOA geolocation, connectivity (LoRa, Sigfox, LTE-CatM1, NB-IoT, BLE, WiFi), end-to-end IoT product development from specifications to production, and embedded firmware design with ultra-low-power management.
Quantifiable outcome
- Up to 10x reduction in power consumption for GPS processing compared to state-of-the-art
- +6 more outcomes
Companies that use Ubiscale
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Ubiscale technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
Feature5 records
Ubiscale partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- CEVAcoreCobalt GNSS IP is developed together with CEVA DSP platform. The solution is demonstrated on CEVA-DSP platform with assistance over NB-IoT network. The Galileo-of-Things project leverages CEVA-DSP X1 platform for the lightweight processor.
- Deutsche TelekomcoreUbiscale partnered with Deutsche Telekom to achieve best-in-class NB-IoT devices. The partnership combines Ubiscale's low-power GNSS technology with Deutsche Telekom's NB-IoT network capabilities to deliver optimized IoT tracking solutions.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Ubiscale competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Polte: Polte provides cloud-assisted GNSS positioning for IoT and asset tracking, shifting processing from the device to the cloud to reduce power — a directly comparable technical and business model to Ubiscale's UbiGNSS / Ubi.cloud offering.
- u-blox: u-blox is a leading supplier of GNSS positioning and wireless communication chips/modules for the IoT market — a direct peer competing for chipset-side design wins with Cobalt GNSS IP, though at significantly larger scale.
- Combain: Combain offers cloud-based positioning APIs using Wi-Fi, cellular, and GNSS signals for IoT, mobile, and asset tracking — directly comparable to Ubi.cloud's pay-as-you-go cloud positioning service.
- Quectel: Quectel is one of the largest global IoT module vendors with GNSS positioning modules that compete in the same asset tracking and telematics use cases targeted by Ubiscale's customers and partners.
- Skyhook Wireless: Skyhook provides hybrid Wi-Fi/cell/GNSS location services for IoT and consumer devices via a cloud API — directly comparable to Ubiscale's cloud positioning service business model.
Broad incumbents
- Nordic Semiconductor: Nordic's nRF-series SoCs integrate multi-protocol radio and increasingly GNSS/Wi-Fi location features for low-power IoT — competing for the same chipset-maker socket that Cobalt GNSS IP targets, though as a broader connectivity incumbent.
- HERE Technologies: HERE operates a global location platform with Wi-Fi/cell/GNSS positioning APIs. As a broad incumbent it competes with Ubi.cloud in cloud-based positioning, while offering a much wider portfolio beyond IoT.
- Zephyr (Broadcom/Renesas positioning IP): Large semiconductor incumbents (Broadcom, Qualcomm, Renesas) sell GNSS IP and chips into IoT and mobile — representing the broader competitive set that Cobalt GNSS IP must displace in chipset-side design wins.
Regional players
- Sigfox: Sigfox is both a customer of Ubiscale (LPWA connectivity for Ubi.cloud) and an adjacent ecosystem player in 0G/low-power IoT networks, with overlapping go-to-market into logistics and asset tracking in Europe.
Others
- Semtech (LoRa): Semtech's LoRa LPWA technology underpins many LPWA IoT trackers that integrate Ubi.cloud. As the upstream connectivity enabler, Semtech is an ecosystem partner/competitor for low-power geolocation IoT use cases.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Ubiscale social profiles
Digital presenceUbiscale compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Ubiscale financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Ubiscale leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Ubiscale funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Ubiscale M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Ubiscale
What does Ubiscale do?
Ubiscale provides ultra-low-power geolocation technology for Internet-of-Things devices. Its portfolio includes Cobalt, a GNSS receiver IP core licensed to chipset makers for System-on-Chip integration, and Ubi.cloud, a cloud-based positioning platform (with UbiGNSS and UbiWiFi) that shifts power-intensive GPS and Wi-Fi processing to the cloud. The company also offers custom IoT engineering and design services.
Is Ubiscale a public or private company?
Ubiscale is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Ubiscale founded?
Ubiscale was founded in 2015. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Ubiscale based?
Ubiscale is headquartered in Rennes, France, in the Europe region.
How does Ubiscale make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. IP Core Licensing (Cobalt) is the primary driver. The others are ubi.cloud API Services and engineering and Design Services.
Who are Ubiscale's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Polte, u-blox, Combain, Quectel and Skyhook Wireless. Broad incumbents are Nordic Semiconductor, HERE Technologies and Zephyr (Broadcom/Renesas positioning IP). Sigfox is listed as a regional player. Semtech (LoRa) is listed as an others.
Does Ubiscale have an API?
Yes. Ubi.cloud API services work with two embedded technologies: UbiGNSS and UbiWIFI to fulfil requirements for asset tracking. The API outputs position data with accuracy metrics. Embedded software libraries are available for leading GNSS/Wi-Fi hardware platforms. The solution operates with all LPWA networks (Sigfox, LoRa, NB-IoT, LTE-M, custom) and produces a compact pre-processed payload of 10 bytes per position with uplink-only data transmission. Business models include pay-as-you-go or life-time licenses. Developer documentation is at ubiscale.com/technologies.