Since WIRED selected what3words as startup of the week in May 2015, the company has gone from strength to strength.

Most recently, its grid system was adopted as an addressing standard by La Poste Djibouti, located in the Horn of Africa in the Republic of Djibouti. What3words is now available in 13 languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swahili, Russian, German, Turkish & Swedish and the list is growing.


Scroll down to learn more about how what3words got started, how it works and where it wants to go next.

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Original story

What3words automatically assigns a three-word address to any 3m x 3m square, on a grid of 57 trillion squares across the globe. "Having spent ten years organising live music events around the world and constantly facing huge logistical frustrations that came with poor addressing, I sought out a solution," cofounder Sheldrick tells WIRED.co.uk. "I discussed the idea of a more usable and less error-prone version of the latitude and longitude coordinate system with a mathematician friend, who subsequently wrote an early version of the what3words algorithm on the back on an envelope."


The resulting product means anyone traditionally living or working "off the grid", can now use vital services previously inaccessible to them. "Poor addressing is costly and annoying in some developed countries, but around the world it hampers the growth and development of nations, ultimately costing lives," says Sheldrick.

Founder: Chris Sheldrick and Jack Waley-Cohen

Launched: July 2013

Headquarters: London

Staff: 8

Funding: £1.75m in angel funding

What problem do you solve?



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Around 75 percent of the world (135 countries) suffers from inadequate addressing systems. This means that around four billion people are invisible, unable to get deliveries, receive aid, report disease or exercise many of their rights as citizens because they simply have no way to communicate where they live. It means that in remote locations water facilities can't be found, monitored and fixed, and schools, refugee camps and informal settlements remain unaddressed. Even in countries with advanced address systems, people get lost, packages aren't delivered, and businesses and tourist attractions don't get found.


How does it work?



What3words is a tiny piece of code, an API or SDK that plugs into existing businesses' apps and services, and works across a range of platforms and devices. It is already integrated into a range of mapping and navigation services and we are about to begin projects with several governments, couriers, retailers, travel companies and aid agencies.

How do you plan to make money?



We will charge for API calls and for additional functionality like AutoSuggest, and for offline functionality. What3words will always be free for individuals to use on our site and apps. When we charge for access to our API or SDK we intend to support fair and equitable use. We will employ a structure that provides qualifying organisations, include humanitarian and not-for-profit entities, with a range of free and discounted usage plans.

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Who do you view as your competitors?

There are a number of alphanumeric location systems out there that use a combination of letters and numbers. None have had any significant success.

How is your product better?



Using words means non-technical people can find any location more accurately and most importantly, communicate it more quickly, more easily and with less ambiguity than any other system. According to a 1957 study your ability to immediately remember three words is near perfect.

How would you sum up your company ethos?



Do good by doing business.

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What’s the biggest misconception about your business?



That the world is well-addressed.

What encouraged you to launch the startup?



The beauty of the idea – the fact that it only takes a combination of three words to address the entire globe. When we first did the maths, I thought, "I can't believe nobody has done this, this just make things so simple", so we wanted to be the ones to do it.

How have you grown since launch?

We released our app and website in July 2013, the online API was released in November 2013 and the offline SDK in October 2014. Autosuggest error detection and offline navigation functionality was added in February 2015. Next to come is intelligent handling of three-word input by voice. We are available in eight languages [this has risen to 13 since the story was published] and are currently testing Swahili, Greek and Arabic. To date the system has been integrated into 25 apps and services including Navmii, which has 25 million users around the world. We also hired the managing director of Ordnance Survey International in a move that has rocked the geo world.

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What has been the most challenging time for the company?

Getting the first partners on board.

How did you overcome that?

There are those who want to be the first to adopt What3words and those who want to be second. We had to develop a clear proposition around why being first was good and got better at understanding which organisations, consumers, and ecosystems they were likely to be. Our business plan Venn diagrams have a lot of pretty different people clumped together who you wouldn't normally expect to be.

Do you have any advice for dealing with potential investors?



I think trying to generate inbound investment buzz and taking it as it comes outweighs doing a lot of outbound for a big round, certainly for us that has been the best way.

What is the best piece of advice anyone has ever given you?



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I organised my first concert in a barn. My dad gave me some advice on slim budget vs great service: "put in good toilets and people will come back." I think the analogy extends.

Which business person do you most admire and why?



Margaret Mead who said: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world."

What is your biggest barrier to future success?




Finding the ambitious innovators within our target organisations.

Where do you see your industry in ten years time?



Every piece of data will be tied to a location – what that will look like will be pretty interesting. Getting maps on all our devices has been a big transformation in how we think about location. I think the next shift will be when we start not needing them.