Ola acquires GeoSpoc to build next-gen location tech for undisclosed sum

SoftBank-backed mobility firm Ola has acquired Pune-based GeoSpoc, a leading provider of geospatial services. GeoSpoc co-founder Dhruva Rajan and his team of Geospatial scientists and engineers will be joining Ola to develop technologies that will make mobility universally accessible, sustainable, personalised, and convenient, across shared and personal vehicles. Ola didn’t reveal the value of the transaction.

“I am thrilled to have Dhruva (Rajan) and his team join Ola and look forward to building the next generation of location technology for the world, right here from India,” said Bhavish Aggarwal, chairman and group CEO, Ola, in a blog post.

Aggarwal said 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 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.

“We are taking the first step towards this by acquiring GeoSpoc,” said Aggarwal.

Personal mobility is expected to penetrate deeper to cover 50-100 per cent of India’s population in the coming years. Here maps will need to improve in a variety of ways. These include having accurate and rich maps with high user context should be available to the population beyond the first 100 million users.

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.

Maps 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.  Also, autonomous driving will need HD and 3D maps which will offer superior visualization, dynamic real-time updates based on road, traffic and weather conditions.

Enhanced geo-spatial services will also go a long way in improving urban planning including road networks, better public transportation and preempt 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 (wheelers) that provide unprecedented geo-spatial details,” said Aggarwal. “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.”

From electric scooters, cars to drones and flying cars, Aggarwal recently shared his vision of the future of mobility - New Mobility. In India, just 2 per cent (30 million) people own a four-wheeler and only 12 per cent (160 million) own a two-wheeler. Also, new mobility is about fixing this archaic system by making mobility universally accessible, sustainable, personalised and convenient. To do this both shared and personal mobility will grow significantly in India through a combination of purpose-built EVs lowering costs, digital retail driving convenience and the cloud enabling personalisation.

“In the coming quarters, we will expand our EV (electric vehicle) range with more scooters, bikes and cars,” said Aggarwal recently. “Our EVs are smart, connected AI machines and will leapfrog current personal vehicles that are dumb mechanical devices.”