The technology provided by the location data specialist is expected to drive Ola’s future growth strategies
The announcement of Mumbai-based ride-hailing aggregator Ola acquiring GeoSpoc to develop next-generation location technology has created a buzz in the geospatial industry. The total value of the deal has not been disclosed publicly.
“New mobility will see profound changes in the way people move. New vehicle form factors and modes of transport will transform our day-to-day lives. These fundamental changes will require investments in the 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,” said Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer.
Ola as a technology firm
Ola has now spread its operations across almost all Indian cities. In this respect, location is the key to unlocking the value of intelligent insights. Technological change reshaping growth has intensified as Artificial Intelligence (AI), advanced robotics, and cyber-physical systems have pushed the digital revolution to the next level.
Aggarwal has repeatedly described Ola as a technology firm rather than a company providing ride-hailing services. He had said that his ambition was to be able to deliver a cab in the shortest possible time from the time of booking, and for this, his company was using data analytics.
With the acquisition of Pune-based GeoSpoc to develop the next-generation location technology, Ola has bigger plans. “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, personalized, and convenient, across shared and personal vehicles,” he said.
He said shared and personal mobility will penetrate deeper to cover 50-100 percent of India’s population in the coming years. For that maps need to improve in a variety of ways such as “high user context, multi-modal transportation options, three-dimensional view, satellite imagery and real-time updates for autonomous driving”.
Geospatial services will go a long way
Enhanced geospatial services will 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 geospatial 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 added.
Ola is backed by Japan’s Softbank Group and competes with Uber Technologies in India. In July, private equity firms, Temasek and Warburg Pincus, invested about $500 million in Ola ahead of its planned IPO.
Last week, Ola Electric had raised over $200 million in funding led by Falcon Edge, Softbank, and others, at a valuation of $3 billion.
