BufferBox has been acquired by Google, reports an article on Business Insider.  BufferBox is “an automated, self-serve kiosk to eliminate the frustrations and hassle involved with failed parcel deliveries. BufferBox has successfully deployed our first kiosk that allows for 24/7 pick-up of parcels at a convenient location” (CrunchBase).  BufferBox graduated from Y Combinator’s most recent batch this past summer, YC S12.

What’s particularly noteworthy about this acquisition is that BufferBox will continue to operate from within Google.  This is not an acqui-hire for the talent.  By acquiring BufferBox, Google is effectively entering the shipping business.  The Business Insider article, citing a post from The Economist, suggests this acquisition may be part of Google’s strategy to enhance competition with Amazon.com.  Terms of the BufferBox acquisition are not yet publicly known.