Ola acquires geospatial services provider GeoSpoc

Ride hailing major Ola on Tuesday said it has acquired GeoSpoc, a geospatial services provider. However, the company didn't disclose the cost of acquisition.
 
New vehicle form factors and modes of transport will transform day to day lives, and these fundamental changes will require investments in next-gen technologies, including location and geospatial technologies, and advancements in satellite imagery conversion into real-time maps as well as 3D, HD and vector maps, Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said in a blog post.
 
"Today we are taking the first step towards this by acquiring GeoSpoc, India's leading provider of geospatial services. Dhruva and his team of geospatial scientists and engineers will be joining Ola to develop technologies which will make mobility universally accessible, sustainable, personalised, and convenient, across shared and personal vehicles," Aggarwal said.
 
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Founded in 2015, Pune-based GeoSpoc provides niche location-based solutions, services and products to verticals such as BFSI, retail, precision agriculture and consumer goods/FMCG. It also provides consulting, implementation, customisation, application development support and integration with existing business systems, across multiple platforms and industries.
 
Dhruva Rajan is the CEO of GeoSpoc. The company also has presence in UK and US, besides India.
 
Aggarwal said that as shared and personal mobility penetrate deeper to cover 50-100 per cent of India's population in the coming years, maps will need to improve in a variety of ways.
 
While multi-modal transportation options will need geospatial intelligence to understand the unique benefits of each option and provide suggestions accordingly, maps will need to consider a three dimensional view of the world as aerial mobility models such as drones become more mainstream.
 
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Maps will also need to incorporate near real time satellite imagery to provide a better understanding of road quality, as well as improvements such as avoiding poorly lit streets at night for safety, even if it is a faster route, while autonomous driving will need HD and 3D maps which will offer superior visualisation, dynamic real time updates based on road, traffic and weather conditions, Aggarwal said.
 
Besides, enhanced geo-spatial services will also go a long way in improving urban planning including road networks, better public transportation and pre-empt congestion spots.
 
"We have the data and the expertise to build this utilizing our deep understanding of consumer movements as well as our massive network of 2,3 and 4Ws that provide unprecedented 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," Aggarwal wrote.
 
Ola's electric vehicle arm Ola Electric has already launched its e-scooters and the company has also given hints of producing electric cars.

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