Google acquires messaging start-up Pie to kick-start Singapore engineering push

The farewell message to Pie users left by the Pie team after the start-up was acquired by Google. PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM WWW.PIE.CO

SINGAPORE - Internet giant Google has acquired local business messaging start-up Pie to kick-start its engineering team in Singapore.

All nine Pie engineers will start work in Google's office in Shenton Way on Feb 19.

The acquisition price was not disclosed. Pie will also close down its service.

Google's vice-president Caesar Sengupta told The Straits Times that he wants to attract Singapore engineers who are working overseas especially in Silicon Valley in California to join the engineering team here.

He will also hold a hiring information session on March 8 at Google's headquarters in Mountain View. This session is open to any Singaporean engineer working in California.

Mr Sengupta explained that the engineering team here will focus on building new products and services for the next billion users who will come mostly from Asia.

These users will likely access the Internet with low-cost mobile phones which may not allow them to get seamless Internet connection.

"These phones will have lower technical specifications which means that users may get patchy Internet connections. The result is that their Internet experience will not be good."

The engineering team's aim would be to develop new products and services that will work well with Internet content despite the users' less powerful phones, he added.

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