ET Global Business Summit 2023: What3Words looks to grow on ground via more tie-ups

What3words, a location services provider that assists in sharing an address with anyone using just three words instead of complex coordinates, is looking to expand in India through tie-ups with ecommerce, logistics and automobile companies, cofounder and chief executive Chris Sheldrick said at the ET Global Business Summit.

The application works by dividing the globe into 57 trillion 3x3 metre squares and assigning a unique three-word name to each block. Instead of sharing complex GPS coordinates running into a long string of numbers, users can just share the three words associated with any location.

Besides English, what3words is available in 11 Indian languages, including Hindi and Tamil, to help its India expansion.


"Globally, we've done partnerships with companies like DHL. In India, we've just launched two partnerships-the first with Grab, a Reliance brand, and the other with DTDC," Sheldrick said.

The application charges businesses for converting a three-word location back to GPS coordinates.