Israeli Indoor Navigation App Navin Expands To The US

Israeli pedestrian guidance and navigation app developer Navin Systems is expanding to the US, the company announced in a statement last week.

The company’s indoor navigation app, which navigates indoor spaces, like museums and stores, is now available in San Francisco and Palo Alto.

Using artificial intelligence and complex algorithms, the company has mapped out escalators, elevators, specific department, and transitions between floors in California locations like Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, IKEA, and more.

According to Navin CEO Shai Ronen, the expansion is a way for the company to build upon its success in Israel. The company, co-founded in 2012 by Ronen, a former Israeli Air Force F-16 pilot and an expert in navigation systems, along with Lior Ronen and Gidi Barak, has already mapped out Tel Aviv spaces like Dizengoff Center, TLV Fashion Mall, Sarona Market, Ichilov Hospital, the Tel Aviv Museum, and Azrieli Towers.

Similar to Waze for drivers and Moovit for public transportation users, Navin creates maps based on users’ shared real-time info using its patented peer-to-peer crowd mapping technology.

Future goals, Ronen says, including mapping out major cities in Europe and the Far East, which Ronen explains are particularly challenging in terms of the complexity of the buildings.