Waze, a popular GPS navigation software, was born out of a 2006 project called “FreeMap Israel” aimed at creating a digital map of Israel. Uri Levine, Ehud Shabtai, and Amir Shinar, the founders, initially struggled to attract investors due to the free nature of the app. After a successful pivot to a user-generated live map, Waze began to gain traction.
In 2009, Waze launched in the US and became an instant hit, attracting 100,000 users in just three days. Despite its success, the company faced a significant challenge – map data was expensive, and Waze was giving it away for free. The solution came in the form of a business model that sold location-based advertising, leveraging the app’s real-time data.
By 2011, Waze had 7 million users and was attracting attention from tech giants. In 2013, after a bidding war, Google acquired Waze for $1.15 billion, marking one of the largest tech acquisitions in Israel’s history. Today, Waze is used by over 140 million monthly active users worldwide, demonstrating the power of a community-driven product.
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