On This Spot

What On This Spot does

On This Spot Enterprises Inc. is a Vancouver-based mobile platform that delivers interactive historical walking and driving tours, built around a proprietary 'Then & Now' photography overlay that blends archival images with the user's live camera view. The company operates a freemium consumer app on iOS and Android covering 130+ cities across North America and Europe, with 200+ walking tours and 10,000+ then-and-now photos. Core technical components include GPS-activated audio narration, offline tour mode, 360° virtual tours, scavenger hunts, biking itineraries, and Indigenous Knowledge-keeper video tours. A proprietary Content Management System lets partner organizations self-serve tour updates.

Name

On This Spot

Legal name

On This Spot Enterprises Inc.

Website

https://onthisspot.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

On This Spot is a Vancouver-based mobile platform offering GPS-activated historical walking tours with then-and-now photo overlays. It partners with municipalities, heritage societies, tourism boards, and Indigenous groups across 130+ cities, monetizing content creation, hosting, CMS access, and white-label app development.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Heritage Tourism Software

NAICS

Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Land (48711), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Other (4879)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Local & City Guide Content Aggregators (MPACAKAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Museum & Landmark Guided Tours (Skip-the-line/Docent-led) (THAJAAAC), Photography & Scenic Viewpoint Tours (THAJAAAI), Cultural, Heritage & Arts Travel Agencies (THAKAFAK)

Keywords

• Historical walking tours
• Then and now photography
• Heritage tourism platform
• Location-based audio tours
• Indigenous cultural tours

Headquarters

HQ city

Vancouver

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Partner Organization Subscriptions: Municipalities, heritage organizations, tourism boards, Indigenous groups, and museums pay to have their community's stories, tours, and attractions hosted on the On This Spot platform. This includes content creation services (research, writing, photography, videography), hosting fees, and access to the proprietary CMS for managing content. The company offers flexible partnership options to fit various budgets.
2. White Label & Custom App Development: Organizations wanting their own branded app can commission custom development from On This Spot. This provides additional revenue through one-time or ongoing licensing fees for custom application development.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

On This Spot operates a GPS-activated mobile app that delivers interactive historical walking, driving, and biking tours featuring then-and-now photography overlays, audio narration, Indigenous video tours, 360° virtual tours, and scavenger hunts across 130+ cities in North America and Europe. The company partners with municipalities, heritage organizations, tourism boards, and Indigenous groups to host their community's stories on the platform via a proprietary Content Management System, with optional white-label and custom app development.

Product overview

On This Spot is a mobile-first interactive tour platform offering a unified product portfolio centered on the On This Spot Mobile App. The core app provides walking tours, Then & Now Photography, Audio Narration, Indigenous Video Tours, 360° Virtual Tours, Audio Driving Tours, Scavenger Hunts, and Biking Itineraries—all accessible offline. The platform operates on a freemium model with over 200 walking tours across 130+ cities. Supporting the consumer app is a Partner Content Management System (CMS) for organizations to manage tour content, and White Label & Custom Apps for partners seeking branded solutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• On This Spot Mobile App Free mobile application available on iOS and Android providing interactive historical walking tours, audio narration, virtual tours, driving tours, biking itineraries, and scavenger hunts with Then & Now photography comparisons across 130+ cities for individual explorers.
• Partner Content Management System (CMS)

Quantifiable outcome

• Tens of thousands of active users exploring heritage content
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Heritage WinnipegcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Heritage Winnipeg to create interactive walking tour app for the City of Winnipeg. The app received significant public and media attention, completed on time and on budget. Partners highlight the value as a unique digital tool for heritage tourism with worldwide exposure.
• Tourism NanaimocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Tourism Nanaimo to develop content sharing cultural and industrial history with visitors and local citizens. Executive Director Dan Brady noted the app provides exceptional experiences for those wanting to share community history.
• Western District Historical SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership producing walking tour app that has been embraced by senior population as expression of respect for community history. The app has been adopted in local school curricula, with outcomes exceeding initial expectations.
• City of EdmontoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipal partnership providing interactive heritage content for Edmonton, one of Canada's major cities. Content available through the On This Spot app platform.
• Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with RMWB covering Fort McMurray and nine rural communities including Anzac, Conklin, Fort Chipewyan, Fort McKay, and others. Acknowledges land is Treaty 8 Territory of Cree, Dene, and Métis peoples.
• Visit South OkanagancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional tourism partnership covering multiple Okanagan communities including Osoyoos, Oliver, Peachland, Summerland, Naramata, and Kaleden. Content highlights agricultural history and Indigenous heritage of the Syilx Okanagan Nation.
• City of PentictoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipal partnership providing heritage content for Penticton, BC. Partner logo displayed on main partner page.
• Cowichan Tribes (Duncan)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndigenous partnership with Cowichan Tribes covering Duncan, BC. Content includes Indigenous heritage and cultural history of the Cowichan Nation.
• Tourism ManitobacoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorProvincial tourism organization partnership promoting heritage content across Manitoba communities including Winnipeg and other partner cities.
• University of Victoria (UVic)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership contributing to Victoria historical content with research support and institutional credibility.
• Victoria ArchivescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCritical archival partner providing access to extensive historic photo collections for Victoria content. Archives include photos dating from 1864 onwards documenting city history.
• Petroglyph Development Group (Nanaimo)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndigenous organization partnership developing heritage content for Nanaimo area, including Indigenous history and cultural preservation.
• Osoyoos Indian BandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndigenous partnership covering Osoyoos area with content about Syilx Okanagan First Nations history, Nk'Mip Desert Cultural Centre, and Indigenous-owned businesses including Nk'Mip Cellars (first Indigenous-owned winery in Canada). Band generated nearly $120.1 million in revenues since 2015 from cultural ventures.
• Doukhobor Discovery Centre (Castlegar)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerHeritage partnership documenting Doukhobor history and culture in the Castlegar area.
• Destination Northern Ontario (Red Lake)supportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRegional tourism partnership covering Northern Ontario communities including Red Lake area.
• Steveston Historical SocietysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal heritage society partnership documenting Steveston's history as a fishing village and cannery town.
• Lacombe Regional TourismcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRegional tourism partnership covering Lacombe County and surrounding communities including Lacombe, Blackfalds, Bentley, and others.
• Heritage Chilliwack SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHeritage society partnership documenting Chilliwack's history including Stó:lō Coast Salish peoples' heritage and Fraser Valley settlement history.
• Alder Grove Heritage SocietysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal heritage society partnership documenting Aldergrove history, originally named Shortreed, with content on early settlement and railway development.
• Peachland MuseumsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerMuseum partnership providing archival photos and historical content for Peachland, BC, documenting fur trade history and community development.
• Alix Wagon Wheel MuseumsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerMuseum partnership documenting Alix history including connections to Dr. Irene Parlby and the Famous Five, with content on prairie settlement.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Detour: Detour (acquired by Bose) pioneered location-aware, professionally produced audio walking tours in major cities. It is a broad incumbent in the curated audio-walk category that raised significant venture capital and competes for premium urban-tour mindshare.
• Google Arts & Culture: Google Arts & Culture offers a free, well-funded platform for heritage content, virtual tours, and cultural storytelling worldwide. It is a broad incumbent that competes for partner organization content hosting and end-user attention in the digital heritage space.

Direct peers

• HearHere: HearHere is a GPS-activated audio-storytelling app that delivers narrations about overlooked places during road trips. It is a direct peer on the location-based audio-tour mechanic that On This Spot's GPS-activated driving and walking tours rely on.
• Geotourist: Geotourist provides a white-label app and CMS for destinations, tourism boards, and heritage organizations to publish GPS-guided tours. It directly overlaps with On This Spot's white-label, CMS, and partner-funded content model.
• TourSphere: TourSphere builds mobile tour apps and CMS platforms for attractions, historic sites, and municipalities. It competes head-to-head with On This Spot's B2B partner-CMS and white-label offering for heritage and tourism organizations.
• PocketSights: PocketSights provides self-guided GPS audio tours and walking-tour apps for cities, museums, and heritage sites. It is a direct competitor to On This Spot, offering similar heritage/tourism partner monetization and multi-stop tour authoring.
• VoiceMap: VoiceMap is a GPS-triggered audio walking-tour platform with a global marketplace of narrated tours in cities worldwide. It directly competes with On This Spot on the core product mechanic (location-activated audio walks) and on the B2B2C model of creator-published content.
• Storic: Storic is a then-and-now photo storytelling app that overlays historical imagery onto present-day camera views in city locations. It is the closest conceptual peer to On This Spot's signature Then & Now photography feature.
• TravelStorysGPS: TravelStorysGPS delivers location-triggered audio stories along scenic byways, driving routes, and walking paths, partnering with state tourism boards. It mirrors On This Spot's driving-tour and tourism-board GTM, especially in US regional markets.

Others

• CurioCity: CuriosityStream and similar documentary/educational streaming services are thematically adjacent as heritage and history content distributors. They are not direct tour competitors but compete for the same end-user leisure-time and education-budget dollars.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/onthisspotblog
• Facebookfacebook.com/onthisspot

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 On This Spot