Internet giant Google has acquired a Bengaluru-based startup, Halli Labs, which works on artificial intelligence and machine learning. The Indian company was founded four months ago by data scientist Pankaj Gupta, who had previously worked at the now-defunct Stayzilla.
“We will be joining Google’s Next Billion Users team to help get more technology and information into more people’s hands around the world,” the startup said in a blogpost. Google’s project focuses on bringing one billion internet users from emerging markets, including India.
On Twitter, Gupta said, “Excited to share that the Halli Labs team is joining Google.”
The financial details of the deal were, however, not disclosed. “They’ll be joining our team that is focused on building products that are designed for the next billion users coming online, particularly in India,” Google said in a statement to Business Standard.
Major internet companies, such as Google, Facebook and Apple, considered India one of their most prized emerging markets. Last year, Apple had acquired Hyderabad-based startup Tuplejump to focus on artificial intelligence. In 2014, Facebook had acquired the Bengaluru-based Little Eye Labs that tracks the performance of Android-based mobile apps.
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