Online travel firm ibibo Group has acquired Bangalore-based tracking & analytics startup 'YourBus' in a bid to enhance its offering in the field of bus travel.

Founded by two BITS-Pilani graduates, viz. Rajesh Mallipeddi and Satya Padmanabham, GPS-based bus tracking service YourBus provides information like arrival, departure, routes of buses. A smartphone user can use the YourBus app to see the location of his/her bus in real time on a map.

Ibibo Group, which is backed by South Africa-headquartered media & internet firm Naspers, had last year bought India's leading bus ticketing platform redBus in a deal worth over Rs 600 crore.

Therefore the acquisition of YourBus is being seen as ibibo Group's strategic plan to make a foray into transportation services market.

Confirming the deal, Mallipeddi said, "We believe we can potentially take live bus tracking to every bus in India and make it a de-facto feature to all bus passengers and operators. We will be able to leverage the bigger support/network of redBus to achieve this."

However, none of the two sides disclosed the value of the deal.

There are as many as 50,000 semi-luxury and luxury buses in India. But, only around 200 buses, mostly in south India, are currently making use of the YourBus technology. The acquisition of YourBus by ibibo Group is now expected to expand the reach of the technology to more buses in more areas.