Low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) platform provider Actility has announced the acquisition of GPS technology company Abeeway for an undisclosed amount, boosting its geolocation capabilities.

Actility’s ThingPark platform will be combined with Abeeway’s geolocation technology, which leverages LoRaWAN communication protocols to transmit location data collected via assisted GPS.

Actility will benefit from geolocation capabilities with improved accuracy, speed, power consumption and total cost of ownership, as it looks to make an impact in the logistics and supply chain sectors.

Abeeway’s offerings proved to be an attractive proposition for Actility, whose focus on energy efficiency fit with the platform provider’s long-term goals.

Abeeway possesses assisted GPS technology specifically optimised for LoRaWAN networks, which allows fewer satellites to be used to obtain a location fix and reduces the GPS lock time to a few seconds.

This in turn reduces the power required for GPS signal acquisition and processing and extends battery life.

Actility CEO Mike Mulica said in a statement: “We’ve been rapidly developing our ThingPark Location platform to deliver powerful tools to service providers and our customers in the tracking ecosystem.

“As a long-time partner with Abeeway, we saw great potential in adding their patented assisted GPS technology and expertise in tracking to the capabilities of our ThingPark platform.”

Abeeway founder Florian Sforza added: “Becoming part of Actility’s rapid growth will allow us to leverage their market leading LPWA platform and global reach to satisfy the massive market demand for IoT location use cases.”

This acquisition marks the first for Actility since its US$75m Series D fundraising round, which is intended to enhance its technology portfolio and accelerate worldwide growth.