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Alphabet buys urban planning startup Urban Engines to supercharge Google Maps

There is no doubt that Urban Engine can utilize the unlimited resources of Google to improve its offering.

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Hidden way down in a blog post outlining the company’s history, Urban Engines announced that it’s being rolled into the Google Maps team, “we’re excited to combine forces to help organizations better understand how the world moves”. It can have expectation for improving the transit system and the mixed-mode routing options on Google Maps.

Google Maps is about to get a big improvement, as the company has acquired Urban Engines, a platform that combines big data and spatial analytics to improve urban mobility, it was announced in a blog post.

Google Maps has been improving and expanding its functionality as Apple and other companies like Uber bolster their own mapping capabilities.

Urban Engines had said that after collecting enormous data by analyzing billions of trips with an agenda to make commuting better in the lives of millions, it is time for the company to move ahead on its journey to the next phase.

Urban Engines, one startup from a group of former Google employees have their idea of helping the urban traffic congestion to be at ease.

According to Venture Beat, the startup Urban Engines has been founded in the year 2014. The company was created by Shiva Shivakumar, Balaji Prabhakar, Giao Nguyen, and Deepak Merugu. Since its inception, the company has had the privelage of serving and learning from customers across the Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, including “smart city” partnerships with Mayoral Offices and govt. ministries. Business Insider reports that the head of the Google Maps team, Jen Fitzpatrick, declared that they are working to develop the most detailed, deepest and understanding of the real world.

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Urban Engines has also received backing from some marquee investors of the Valley, including GV, Andreessen Horowitz, SV Angel, Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt, and Ram Shriram, who is recognized as Google’s first investor.

Urban Engines