Bengaluru based Ride hailing major Ola on Tuesday acqui-hired artificial intelligence startup Pikup.ai. Since this was an acqui-hire, no financial transactions were involved in the deal. As is expected from an acquihire process, Pikup.ai’s Inder Singh and Ritwik Saikia along with its entire technical team will join Ola’s team.
Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Bengaluru, Pikup.ai leverages the power of cutting edge technologies like artificial intelligence, computer vision and sensor fusion to offer AI-enabled solutions for businesses across the sector.
Inder Singh, co-founder, Pikup.ai, said in an official statement, “We are looking forward to joining Ola on its mission to build mobility for a billion people and are very excited about building meaningful technology solutions that have a deep impact on the lives of millions, every single day.”
As for Ola, the acqui-hire of Pikup.ai marks a forward step in its quest to build futuristic mobility solutions for domestic as well as international markets. According to the statement released by Ola, the company believes that its investment in new age technologies like AI and machine learning can help in recognizing deep insights that can pave way for improved mobility outcomes. This includes investments in early-stage businesses, acquisitions as well as acquihires across new age and other emerging technologies.
The ride-hailing major has also already announced that it plans to create state-of-the-art technology center in the U.S. to create cutting-edge solutions in mobility space like electric, connected and autonomous vehicles.
Ola’s need for cutting-edge technological solutions is least surprising in the wake of its aggressive expansion. Today the company offers ride-hailing services across 50 Indian cities and prominent international markets like UK, Australia and New Zealand. The company had also heavily invested in its foodtech business, which is now struggling to grow due to tough competition from Swiggy and Zomato.