It’s rare that an app makes headway with emergency services before the general public. In the UK, what3words has become a critical tool, saving the lives of many who have been stranded or needing assistance.
Over 75 emergency services in the UK use the system, as a better way to locate people. Police in North Yorkshire have urged residents to download the app, and rescue services also swear by it.
What3words segments the world into 57 trillion 3 by 3 meter squares, each with a unique address composed of three words.
Chris Sheldrick, the co-founder and CEO of what3words, conceived of the idea after having trouble getting mail delivered to his home in rural Hertfordshire. Also, as a gig organiser, he struggled to get bands to meet at specific entrances.
The premise was simple: create a simpler geo-locator without sacrificing accuracy. Sheldrick immediately considered a switch from numbers to words and asked mathematician (and co-founder) Mohan Ganesalingam to crunch how many would be needed to cover the planet.
The answer was 40,000, although newer languages only have 25,000 words as they don’t cover the sea.
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Download ReportNow, instead of searching for latitude & longitude, a person stranded need only share the three word address and emergency services have a pinpoint location. It also works as a far more accurate postcode, so much so that Mongolia has adopted it for postal services.
Considering approximately four billion people don’t have a home address and 75 percent of countries don’t have a well maintained address system, the potential for what3words is enormous. Instead of setting up a costly postcode system, countries could simply license the technology and inform citizens to download the app.
However, as what3words becomes more of an essential tool, will the startup be able to maintain it as a for-profit venture? There have been several complaints about the app’s proprietary tech and its combative attempts to shut down open-source competitors.
While what3words has said it offers discounts to emergency services and developing nations, it treads on rather thin ground. That being said, Sheldrick sees it as part of a change in how governments outsource infrastructure to private companies, a trend happening globally.
Outside of working with governmental departments, what3words has also partnered with travel guides Black Tomato, Trip Wolf and Lonely Planet. Airbnb guests can be told which entrance to enter and leave with what3words and Cabify drivers can assign a precise location where the rider should meet.
BMW and Mercedes have both integrated what3words into the navigation systems.
Even with this strong commercial growth, what3words has not released total or monthly active user figures, which hints at a stronger corporate than consumer backing.
The company may struggle to keep the emergency services partnered with the widespread adoption of Advanced Mobile Location (AML). All smartphones in the UK, US and 21 other countries have AML embedded, removing the need for a separate app download.
Emergency services is just one sector for what3words however, and one that will be an increasingly negligible source of revenue as more countries adopt what3words for their postal and address services.
what3words key statistics
- What3words generated £390,000 revenue in 2019, a 44 percent increase year-on-year
- It has been valued at £250 million in a 2020 funding round
- Over 1,000 customers use what3words, including the Mongolian postal service
what3words overview
| Launch date | 2 July 2013 |
| HQ | London, UK |
| People | Chris Sheldrick (co-founder, CEO), Jack Waley-Cohen (director), Giles Rhys Jones (chief marketing officer) |
| Business type | Private |
| Industry | Navigation |
what3words revenue
| Year | Revenue |
| 2015 | £30,000 |
| 2016 | £3,000 |
| 2017 | £20,000 |
| 2018 | £270,000 |
| 2019 | £390,000 |
Note: what3words axed its business model in 2015, which sold single word locations to businesses for a subscription fee. This is why revenue decreased in 2016.
Source: Companies House
what3words profit
| Year | Profit |
| 2015 | (£0.8 million) |
| 2016 | (£2.2 million) |
| 2017 | (£4.5 million) |
| 2018 | (£11.4 million) |
| 2019 | (£14.4 million) |
Source: Companies House
what3words users
Note: What3words has not released any data on its users. We know it has been downloaded over 10 million times on iOS and Android.
what3words customers
| Year | Customers |
| 2017 | 500 |
| 2018 | 650 |
| 2019 | 800 |
| 2020 | 1000 |
Note: Customers may use what3words for more than one product. Several customers, including emergency services, receive discounted rates, although what3words has not disclosed its standard rate.
Source: Impakter, UK Tech News
what3words valuation
| Year | Valuation |
| 2017 | £30 million |
| 2018 | £140 million |
| 2020 | £250 million |
Source: Dealroom, The Telegraph
what3words funding (total)
| Year | Funding (t0tal) |
| 2014 | £1 million |
| 2015 | £3 million |
| 2016 | £10 million |
| 2019 | £45 million |
Source: Crunchbase
what3words supported languages
| Year | Supported languages |
| 2016 | 9 |
| 2017 | 10 |
| 2018 | 14 |
| 2019 | 28 |
| 2020 | 45 |
Sources: TechCrunch, UK Tech News
what3words FAQ
How many word variations are there on what3words?
There are over 57 trillion unique variations on what3words
How many words does what3words use?
what3words pulls from a list of 40,000 words to create their variations
What are some of the largest businesses using what3words?
The Mongolian postal service (BBC), Mercedes Benz (Wired) and Dominos all use what3words
