Techniques are disclosed for augmenting light-based communication (LCom) receiver positioning using, for example, an inertial navigation system (INS). An LCom receiver INS may utilize one or more on-board accelerometers and gyroscopic sensors to calculate, via dead reckoning, the position, orientation, and velocity of the receiver. In this manner, the receiver can calculate its relative position using the INS based on a reference point or location. In some cases, the receiver may also or alternatively determine its location or position using a global positioning system (GPS), Wi-Fi-based positioning system (WPS), or some other suitable positioning system. When no LCom signals are in the FOV of the receiver and/or the link is lost to other positioning systems, the receiver INS may be used to augment the receiver positioning. In some cases, the INS mode may run parallel to other positioning techniques to continuously calculate the relative position of the receiver.