Ola acquires GeoSpoc to build next-generation location technology
- IBEF
- October 6, 2021
Ola announced that it has acquired geospatial services provider GeoSpoc, a move that will help the ride-hailing platform develop technologies to make mobility simple and convenient across shared and personal vehicles.
Ola Chairman and Group CEO Mr. Bhavish Aggarwal, in a tweet, said: “New Mobility will require better, newer maps and geospatial services. We're taking the first step to building these by acquiring @GeoSpoc. Look forward to working with @DhruvaRajan and team to build the future of location services!”
However, he did not disclose the financial details.
In a blogpost, he stated that enhanced geo-spatial services will also go a long way in improving urban planning including road networks, better public transportation and pre-empt bottleneck spots.
“Mr. Dhruva and his team of Geospatial scientists and engineers will be joining Ola to create technologies which will make mobility universally accessible, sustainable, personalised, and convenient, across shared and personal vehicles,” he stated.
While the companies did not disclose the number of employees, GeoSpoc is estimated to have ~80 employees.
Mr. Aggarwal clarified that as shared and personal mobility infiltrate deeper to cover 50-100% of India's population in the coming years, maps will need to improve in a variety of ways.
“Multi-modal transportation options will need geospatial intelligence to understand the unique advantages of each option and provide suggestions consequently. Maps will need to consider a three-dimensional view of the world as aerial mobility models such as drones become more conventional,” he stated.
Mr. Aggarwal stated that precise and rich maps with high user context should be available to the population beyond the first 100 million users.
He added that near real-time satellite imagery should be contained in maps to provide a better sense of road quality, as well as improvements such as avoiding poorly lit streets at night for safety even if it is a faster route.
Besides, autonomous driving will need HD and 3D maps which will present superior visualisation, dynamic real-time updates based on road, traffic and weather conditions.
“We have the data and the expertise to build this utilising our deep understanding of consumer movements as well as our massive network of 2, 3 and 4Ws that provide extraordinary geo-spatial details.
“We can layer this data with new sources such as satellite imagery and visual feeds from our network on-ground to build 'Living Maps' that embody the changing landscape of our world,” Mr. Aggarwal added.
Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.
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