Google acquires Sigmoid Labs, parent company of 'Where Is My Train' app
This comes a year after Google made its first acquisition in India by taking over Bengaluru-based AI startup, Halli Labs.
On Monday, online search engine giant, Google acquired Sigmoid Labs, the parent company of the popular train tracking app, Where Is My Train.
While media reports claimed that the deal size ranged around $30 - $40 million, Sigmoid Labs' official statement didn’t include any specific number of the deal value.
Where Is My Train app was founded by five former employees of TiVo Corporation, a technology entertainment company in the US. The startup is reportedly having a team of about 10 people and is based out of Bengaluru.
Where Is My Train app, developed in 2016, lets its users check live train status without internet connectivity. As per a recent YourStory article, the app has notched up 10 million plus downloads on Android, and has attracted attention from both Google and Xiaomi and also became the number one app in the ‘Travel and Local" section of Google Play Store in India. The app is available in several Indian languages including Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.
The post from Sigmoid Labs read, “We’re excited to share that Sigmoid Labs, the team behind the “Where is my train” app, is joining Google. We can think of no better place to help us achieve our mission, and we’re excited to join Google to help bring technology and information into more people’s hands.”
The post further added, “We created the “Where is my train” app with the mission to use technology to improve the lives of millions of Indian train travellers. Over time, we’ve improved the app to make it even more convenient and useful, and we’re thrilled with the response that we’ve gotten from users. The confidence that our users have placed in us is what makes us so excited to think even bigger.”