Prashanth Gurunath created City Square, an app that shows you the center point between two or more locations, offers restaurant suggestions, and may be used by individuals and companies.
What’s the most important thing to consider when purchasing a home? When it comes to determining location, there may be several calculations. Most of the time, most individuals would say that they’re on the “short end” of the bargain.
Prashanth Gurunath
The Android app was created by 22-year-old Prashanth Gurunath and uses the device’s GPS to find the geographic center between two or more stops. Nobody goes farther than the other, but everyone saves money on fuel and time.
Users simply need to input locations and the software finds a position that is equidistant to all of them, according to Prashant.
The application also offers Zomato restaurant suggestions, along with ratings, pricing for two people, cuisine, and other relevant information for restaurants in the additional locations and the main location.
“You may discover the greatest spot to network,” claims Prashanth, a software engineer who earned a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from SRM University in Chennai in May 2019.
The app, which was released in the fall of 2016, has more than 10,000 downloads on Android and is being used by companies and individuals to find common meeting spots.
The birth of City Square
Mr. Prashanth has always been enthusiastic about developing creative and adaptable apps that make people’s lives easier, according to him.
Prashant: “When I moved to the outskirts of Chennai. I learned that while every city has a plethora of hangout locations, plans are frequently made to meet in the center of town and individuals miss out on meeting at spots near to both parties.”
“It was one of my most ambitious undertakings. It was difficult to balance school and work, as well as to troubleshoot issues while developing the software. Also, taking this product into the market when it first launched during the lockdown period was very challenging,” Prashanth adds.
After a year of developing their own algorithm on top of open Google Maps APIs, the team created City Square, a B2B2C app, in March 2020.
“There are a lot of location-sharing applications and services that provide suggestions on where one may go. Nobody has solved the issue of people coming from a distance to a meetup point, though.”
“In its current form, the software will be beneficial to logistics companies in determining their headquarters based on the client base. Transportation costs are significant when searching for available riders and drivers to transport items across a city. As a result, a driver in a suburb may be assigned routes based on the warehouse’s inventory by address,” Prashanth explains.
More people are visiting restaurants or ordering in as restrictions on the coronavirus lessen. City Square is testing out five restaurants in Chennai to popularize these areas, so that when a user opens the app and searches for a friend who is traveling from a certain area, the algorithm will suggest the best restaurant for their meeting depending on measured distances.
The app comes with five map styles that may be personalized. Users can dictate the position using a voice assistant.
Use cases and the future
A COVID-19 relief team in Chennai utilized the software when a group of volunteers had to convene to exchange relief supplies throughout the city. The app helped volunteers from all over town find a common ground.
The team assisted BurgerMan in Chennai with optimization of logistics.
The firm has kept its numbers under wraps for the time being, but it claims that five small businesses and five restaurants have joined.
Over the next two years, the business plans to onboard 25 restaurants and 50 SMBs in India. It will also release new versions of the software, as well as an iOS version.
The business model for logistics firms and small businesses will be based on a per-user approach. It will be based on the number of walk-in consumers at restaurants.
Bengaluru-based Locus is the closest competitor to City Square, which utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to assist the logistics field in route planning and has raised $29 million.
According to SaaS Bhoomi, the software-as-a-service market is a staggering $16 billion opportunity in India alone. According to Gartner, the worldwide software-as-a-service market is worth roughly $152 billion.
“I’m sure artificial intelligence will help shape the future of smart cities. I’ll be aiming high in this market,” Prashanth says.
