The competitive race among LED lighting technology providers to offer indoor positioning services to retailers saw a significant milestone today as Acuity Brands announced it was acquiring ByteLight.

Atlanta-based Acuity Brands, with net sales of $2.4 billion in 2014 and some 7,000 employees, has been ramping up indoor positioning technology capabilities. The company said ByteLight was acquired for cash certain assets, including the patent portfolio and all other intellectual property rights.

“Incorporating ByteLight’s indoor positioning technology with Acuity’s digital lighting platform is a natural fit as we work closely with leading retailers to help shape retail shopping in a connected world,” said Steve Lydecker, Acuity Brands Lighting Senior Vice President of Applied Integrated Solutions, in the press release.

At last fall’s Place Conference in London organized by Opus Research, Acuity Brands presented how LED technology has the ability to deliver extremely precise location to enable unique mobile applications for retailers.

Providers of LED technology are increasingly targeting retailers for indoor location applications.

For its part, GE Lighting has been showcasing how its technology communicates with shoppers’ smart devices for retail applications and location-based services. And Boston, MA-based startup DigitalLumens offers intelligent lighting systems to offer a “better shopping experience.”

ByteLight had raised a total of $4.3 million in two investment rounds, most recently in October 2013 with $3 million from investors including Flywheel Ventures, Motorola Solutions Venture Capital, the eCoast Angel Network, Sand Hill Angels, and Google developer advocate Don Dodge.

Categories: Articles, Mobile + Location

Tags: indoor location, retailers, Acuity Brands, ByteLight