Lyft acqui-hires developers of fare-splitting app Hitch
Developers of the peer-to-peer ride sharing app Lyft announced Monday that the company would acquire Hitch, a startup that, like Lyft, is rooted in San Francisco.
According to Mashable, Hitch's co-founders, Snir Kodesh and Noam Szpiro, built an iOS app that allowed Uber and Lyft users to split rides with strangers going in the same direction. The app promised to save passengers money by simplifying the process of splitting the cost, and even gave users the ability to learn more about the people with whom they shared rides.
Lyft's chief technology officer, Chris Lambert, told Mashable:
"Hitch was one of the early pioneers of the shared ride idea in San Francisco. They really had the same long-term vision we did. They've built a product and technology and approach to share rides that we think will work well in other markets."
Kodesh and Szpiro have been acqui-hired by Lyft, which made the decision to shut Hitch down. The two developers will work on Lyft Line, the Lyft-branded equivalent of Hitch that was announced in August and is currently available to users in San Francisco and Los Angeles, Mashable reports.
Lambert expects that Kodesh and Szpiro will help Lyft Line with "product details and engineering challenges" that are necessary for the company's newest offering to succeed. With the acquisition, Lambert aims to increase adoption, heighten its efficiency and expose it to new markets.
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