Unwired Labs
Unwired Labs operates LocationAPI, a Location-as-a-Service platform that geolocates IoT devices, vehicles, and mobile apps without GPS using its proprietary databases of 4.37 billion WiFi access points and 204.27 million cell towers, serving 25,000+ developers and enterprise customers globally.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersHyderabad, India
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Unwired Labs does
Unwired Labs operates a Location-as-a-Service platform, anchored by its LocationAPI product, that enables connected devices to determine their geographic position without using GPS. The service triangulates device location from nearby WiFi access points (a database of 4.37 billion globally), cell towers (204.27 million globally across GSM, CDMA, UMTS, and LTE), and IP addresses, returning coordinates in under 15 milliseconds with house-level accuracy in urban WiFi coverage (25-50 meters), street-level accuracy via cell towers (median 450 meters in urban centers), and city-level accuracy via IP. The underlying databases are refreshed continuously — cell tower data updates every minute — through crowdsourced contributions from customers, end users, and third-party providers. The platform extends beyond positioning to include geocoding, reverse geocoding, map tiles, and timezone APIs, plus stewardship of OpenCelliD, the largest open-source cell tower database.
The company serves a horizontal mix of use cases: IoT device manufacturers, wearable and pet/people tracker companies, asset and fleet tracking firms, mobile app developers, chipset manufacturers, and mobile network operators. Customers named publicly include BBOXX (solar IoT in Africa), Aspenta (M2M GPS tracker hardware), FoneSense (mobile advertising), Haterdater (dating app), and Kippy (pet trackers), with the platform trusted by 25,000+ developers and companies overall. Distribution is API-first and product-led: free trial sign-up through the website, comprehensive documentation, and a sandbox, supplemented by a direct sales team for enterprise contracts with custom pricing based on device count and request volume. Pricing is usage-based with tiered plans, discounts for longer commitments, and reduced rates for non-profits; WiFi positioning is bundled at no additional charge.
Unwired Labs is incorporated as Unwired Labs (India) Pvt. Ltd., headquartered in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, India, with operational API endpoints in Singapore, San Francisco, New York, Amsterdam, and Ireland. Founded in 2013, the company has remained entirely bootstrapped with no external funding, operates with a small team of approximately 7-11 people, and is GDPR and CCPA compliant. It is led by CEO and founder Gopi Aravind.
Unwired Labs firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Unwired Labs
- Legal name
- Unwired Labs (India) Pvt. Ltd.
- Website
- https://unwiredlabs.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Unwired Labs operates LocationAPI, a Location-as-a-Service platform that geolocates IoT devices, vehicles, and mobile apps without GPS using its proprietary databases of 4.37 billion WiFi access points and 204.27 million cell towers, serving 25,000+ developers and enterprise customers globally.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Unwired Labs industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Geolocation APIs
- NAICS
- All Other Telecommunications (517810), Wired and Wireless Telecommunications (except Satellite) (5171), Telecommunications (517)
- SIC
- Communications Services, Nec (4899), Telephone Communications (No Radiotelephone) (4813), Computer Communications Equipment (3576)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Outside Plant (OSP) & Aerial/Buried Fiber Infrastructure (HDAFALAI)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Small Cells Infrastructure (Street-Level & Venue) (HDAIAKAC), Site Security, Monitoring & Remote Operations (NOC/IoT) (HDAIAKAH), IoT Connectivity Management (Private APN, SIM/eSIM, Device Connectivity) (HDAIAGAG), Neutral Host & In‑Building Connectivity (DAS/Small Cells) (HDAIAGAC), Small Cell & DAS Deployment (Pole/Street Furniture, In-Building DAS) (IMAFAIAE), Private Cellular Networks for Utilities (Private LTE/5G Core, RAN, SIM/eSIM) (EUADAIAF)
Keywords
Where Unwired Labs is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Hyderabad
- HQ country
- India
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices1 record
Markets served
Unwired Labs business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- LocationAPI Access: API usage-based pricing with tiered plans. Flexible license allows storing, mapping and analyzing location data. Additional discounts available for longer-term commitments and non-profits.
- Enterprise Plans: Custom enterprise pricing with dedicated support plans, negotiated based on device count and request volumes.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free trial available for initial testing and evaluation |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
Unwired Labs product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Unwired Labs provides a unified Location-as-a-Service platform via its LocationAPI, which locates connected devices without GPS using WiFi access points (4.37 billion globally), cell towers (204.27 million globally), and IP addresses. The company also offers complementary APIs for Geocoding, Map Tiles, and Timezone conversion, and maintains OpenCelliD, the largest open-source cell tower database.
Product overview
Unwired Labs provides a unified Location-as-a-Service (LaaS) platform centered on LocationAPI, offering multiple positioning technologies: WiFi-based geolocation (house-level accuracy), Cell Tower-based geolocation (street-level accuracy), IP Address geolocation (city-level accuracy), plus Maps, Geocoding, and Timezone APIs. The platform powers location services for IoT devices, mobile apps, wearables, asset tracking, and cellular/WiFi chipset manufacturers. The company also maintains OpenCelliD, the largest open-source cell tower database.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- LocationAPI Primary API platform enabling connected devices to locate themselves without GPS using cell towers, WiFi networks, and IP addresses. Returns location coordinates in milliseconds globally and is used by IoT device makers, mobile app developers, asset trackers, and chipset manufacturers.
- WiFi Positioning Service WiFi-based geolocation service providing house-level accuracy (typically 25-50 meters in urban areas, 50-150 meters in rural areas), powered by a database of over 4.37 billion WiFi access points globally.
- Cell Tower Positioning Cell tower-based geolocation providing street-level accuracy (median 450 meters in urban centers, 1500 meters in rural areas) powered by a database of 204.27 million cells globally. Supports GSM, CDMA, UMTS, and LTE technologies.
- IP Address Geolocation IP-based geolocation providing city-level accuracy for approximately 99.999% of all IP addresses in use worldwide.
- Map Tiles API Dynamic and static map tiles service for visualizing location data, designed to work on any device and load instantly.
- Geocoding & Reverse Geocoding API Geocoding and reverse geocoding API that converts street addresses to geographic coordinates and vice versa, enabling applications to add physical street addresses to geolocation results.
- Timezone API Timezone conversion API providing reliable timezone information across the world for timestamp localization.
- OpenCelliD Open-source database of cell towers maintained by Unwired Labs since 2017, supporting the broader open-source geolocation community for Cell, WiFi, and IoT wide area networks.
Quantifiable outcome
- 95.26% karma rate (successfully geolocated requests)
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Unwired Labs
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles6 records
Unwired Labs technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature8 records
Unwired Labs partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- OpenCelliDcoreUnwired Labs took over maintainership of OpenCelliD, the largest open database of cell towers, from original creator Markus Semm. This partnership provides access to open-source cell tower data and strengthens Unwired Labs' position in the geolocation ecosystem. The acquisition included infrastructure and datasets, with plans to improve data quality and modernize the platform.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Unwired Labs competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- IPinfo: IPinfo is a leading IP address data provider offering geolocation, ASN, and privacy detection APIs. It competes directly with Unwired Labs' IP geolocation stream and is commonly evaluated alongside it in developer use cases.
- Combain: Combain provides cell tower and WiFi-based positioning APIs serving IoT, M2M, and asset tracking customers. It is a head-to-head competitor in the cell-ID positioning niche, particularly for low-power IoT use cases.
- Skyhook Wireless: Skyhook pioneered WiFi-based positioning and provides a hybrid location API (WiFi, cell, GPS, BLE, sensors) to device makers and mobile operators. It is a direct competitor in WiFi-first geolocation, particularly for IoT and mobile OEMs.
- MaxMind: MaxMind provides IP geolocation and fraud detection data services, overlapping with Unwired Labs' IP address geolocation product. It serves a similar developer and enterprise customer base in adtech, e-commerce, and compliance.
- Google Geolocation API (Google Maps Platform): Google's Geolocation API provides WiFi and cell tower-based positioning for Android and third-party developers. It is the most widely used direct competitor to Unwired Labs' LocationAPI, with comparable accuracy but bundled into the broader Google Cloud ecosystem.
Broad incumbents
- TomTom: TomTom provides maps, traffic, and location APIs, including geocoding and routing. It competes in adjacent location data services and is commonly used by enterprise customers who might also evaluate positioning APIs.
- Mapbox: Mapbox is a broad location platform offering maps, navigation, and increasingly positioning APIs. It overlaps with Unwired Labs' location stack but its core value is map rendering and navigation rather than WiFi/cell positioning.
- HERE Technologies: HERE offers positioning services (WiFi, cell, GNSS) as part of its broader location platform serving automotive, logistics, and IoT. It overlaps with Unwired Labs' positioning API but is bundled with maps, routing, and automotive-grade SLAs.
- Foursquare: Foursquare offers Places API, movement data, and location-based audiences, with overlap in geocoding and POI data. It is adjacent rather than directly substitutable for Unwired Labs' WiFi/cell positioning but is in the same developer location ecosystem.
Emerging players
- GeoNames: GeoNames is a widely used open geographical database and web service for place lookups, adjacent to Unwired Labs' geocoding product. It is comparable in use cases (developer-grade geocoding) but offers a different commercial model (free vs paid).
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Unwired Labs social profiles
Digital presenceUnwired Labs compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Unwired Labs financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Unwired Labs leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Unwired Labs funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Unwired Labs 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 Unwired Labs
What does Unwired Labs do?
Unwired Labs provides a unified Location-as-a-Service platform via its LocationAPI, which locates connected devices without GPS using WiFi access points (4.37 billion globally), cell towers (204.27 million globally), and IP addresses. The company also offers complementary APIs for Geocoding, Map Tiles, and Timezone conversion, and maintains OpenCelliD, the largest open-source cell tower database.
Is Unwired Labs a public or private company?
Unwired Labs is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Unwired Labs founded?
Unwired Labs was founded in 2013. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Unwired Labs based?
Unwired Labs is headquartered in Hyderabad, India, in the Asia region.
How does Unwired Labs make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. LocationAPI Access are the primary driver. The others are enterprise Plans.
Who are Unwired Labs's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are IPinfo, Combain, Skyhook Wireless, MaxMind and Google Geolocation API (Google Maps Platform). Broad incumbents are TomTom, Mapbox, HERE Technologies and Foursquare. GeoNames is listed as an emerging player.
Does Unwired Labs have an API?
Yes. LocationAPI is a web service API that enables connected devices to locate themselves without GPS using cell towers, WiFi networks, and IP addresses. The API returns locations in milliseconds and supports geolocation, geocoding, and reverse geocoding. Available globally with endpoints in Asia (Singapore), USA West (San Francisco), USA East (New York), and Europe (Amsterdam and Ireland). Response time under 15ms for geolocation requests. Supports multiple cell radio types including GSM, CDMA, UMTS, and LTE. Developer documentation is at docs.unwiredlabs.com.
What industry is Unwired Labs in?
Unwired Labs's product category is Geolocation APIs. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAFALAI, Outside Plant (OSP) & Aerial/Buried Fiber Infrastructure, with a secondary code of HDAIAKAC, Small Cells Infrastructure (Street-Level & Venue). Its NAICS code is 517810 and its SIC code is 4899.