Polte

Polte Corporation operated as a location-as-a-service (LaaS) provider, specializing in Cloud Location over Cellular (C-LoC) technology. The company was founded in 2005 and was headquartered in the Dallas, Texas area. Polte was established by Russ Markhovsky, who brought 15 years of experience and 12 patents in the location technology space to the venture. The management team also included CEO Ed Chao, a 26-year veteran of the wireless industry with experience at Bell Labs and T-Mobile.

The firm's core offering was a patented software platform designed as an alternative to traditional GPS. Polte's technology leveraged existing global 4G and 5G cellular networks and cloud computing to deliver accurate indoor and outdoor location tracking for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. By offloading the computational work from the device to the cloud, the C-LoC solution aimed to be significantly more power-efficient, reduce device size, and lower costs compared to GPS. This approach provided location data with enhanced security, as the positioning was determined in the cloud rather than on the device, mitigating risks like spoofing. The business model centered on providing this location capability as a software-as-a-service, enabling clients like manufacturers, logistics companies, and systems integrators to track and manage distributed assets. Clients spanned a wide range of sectors including supply chain, manufacturing, transportation, energy, and government. For instance, Polte was awarded a subcontract from Deloitte to equip a U.S. Department of Defense 5G-enabled smart warehouse with its location technology.

Polte's technology was validated through multiple partnerships and funding rounds. The company raised a total of $18.5M over three rounds, including a Series A-2 round of $12.5 million in September 2019 to fund commercial and industrial deployments. Key collaborations included a partnership with Deutsche Telekom to pilot its location API across Europe for asset tracking use cases in industries from logistics to aviation. It also partnered with CoreKinect to launch end-to-end supply chain tracking solutions. In September 2022, Polte discontinued its services and began selling off its assets. Subsequently, it was reported in February 2023 that Qualcomm had acquired the assets of Polte, a 5G location tracking firm.

Keywords: Cloud Location over Cellular, C-LoC, IoT location solutions, 4G/5G asset tracking, indoor outdoor positioning, location-as-a-service, cellular network location, GPS alternative, supply chain visibility, Massive IoT, real-time asset visibility, cloud computing location, mobile IoT, Ed Chao, Russ Markhovsky, Qualcomm acquisition, CoreKinect partnership, Deutsche Telekom pilot, Deloitte DoD contract, low-power asset tracking