Search-engine giant Google confirmed on Tuesday its acquisition of Israeli navigation app Waze. Google agreed to pay investors and shareholders $1.03 billion, and an additional $100 million in rewards will go to company managers and to pay out options. The big winners in the deal were Israeli funds Magma Venture Partners and Vertex Venture Capital, which invested in Waze when it was a fledgling company, and the American fund Blue Run Ventures, Waze's largest investor. Waze founder Ehud Shabtai has a 6 percent stake in the company, and will receive $78 million. Amir and Gili Shinar, also founders, hold a 2.6% stake in the company and will together receive $65 million. Uri Levine, another founder, holds a 3% stake and will receive $38 million. Arie Gillon, a co-founder who holds no position in the company, will receive $4 million and CEO Noam Bardin will receive several millions. It is a rare achievement that a mobile app can demand such a high price from one of the world's largest international corporations. After only four years, CEO Bardin and the team of entrepreneurs turned Waze from a small startup in Raanana to one of the world's most popular navigation services. Brian McClendon, senior vice president for Google and responsible for geo-products like Google Earth and Maps, said that Waze's development team would remain in Israel for the time being and function separately. "Weve all been there: stuck in traffic, frustrated that you chose the wrong route on the drive to work. But imagine if you could see real-time traffic updates from friends and fellow travelers ahead of you, calling out 'fender bender ... totally stuck in left lane!' and showing faster routes that others are taking," McClendon wrote in a Google official blog post. "To help you outsmart traffic, today were excited to announce weve closed the acquisition of Waze." "I am excited to announce today that we have accepted an offer to join Google," wrote Bardin on the Waze company blog. "Nothing practical will change here at Waze. We will maintain our community, brand, service and organization ..." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile called the Waze team to congratulate them. "Congratulations, you have reached your destination," the prime minister effused. "You have brought Israeli technology onto the world map, and you are also contributing to the state -- at this time that is really a blessed development. You have done a phenomenal job." Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett also took the opportunity to congratulate the Waze crew, saying the company was "totally Israel -- humble and hard working. I salute the founders and the managers." Maps are among the five most-used applications on smartphones and tablets, along with music and games. Analysts say Google might have been motivated by a desire to keep Waze and its real-time traffic information out of rivals' hands. Four-year-old Waze was the brainchild of Shabtai, a software engineer with a degree in philosophy and computer science from Tel Aviv University, who hit upon the idea when he realized commercially available GPS software could not reflect real-time conditions speedily enough, or provide certain useful data, such as speed traps. It now has 47 million users, and has raised $67 million in funding to date from firms including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Blue Run Ventures and semiconductor company Qualcomm Inc.
For Waze founders and early investors, a road to riches
International Internet giant Google confirms acquisition of Waze, apparently paid $1.03 billion to investors and shareholders, and an additional $100 million to company management and options • Company development crew to remain in Israel.
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