Waze Founder Looks Back On Google’s Life-Changing Acquisition

For all you readers old enough to remember printing out MapQuest directions before a trip, the advent of navigation apps was truly a game-changer.

And as with technological advancements in other industries, Google was tuned into the most intriguing startups and was willing to pay big money to acquire the best of the bunch.

That brings us to a $1.15 billion purchase that took place almost exactly a decade ago.

Details of the deal

Although Waze was still arguably in its infancy when Google plopped down a 10-figure sum to purchase it in June 2013, there was plenty of evidence that it was going to be a huge success.

The previous year, Waze attracted 25 million new users. That number is even more staggering when compared to the fact that all other navigation devices and apps combined only had about 20 million users at the same point.

So Uri Levine considered the massive amont of cash being offered and decided to turn over his creation to the biggest of Big Tech titans.

Mixed emotions

Ten years later, Levine is willing to open up about his conflicted feelings regarding accepting the deal.

Although he said “it was the right decision,” he noted that Waze has “10x more users, and 100x the revenues compared to 2013, if not more,” which means that his creation is clearly worth more today than the $1.15 million Google paid for it.

In a way, that makes it a win-win, since Levine received a windfall and Google acquired a successful new property. Without the acquisition, it could’ve been a lose-lose.

“We don’t even know if Waze would have become what it is today, or if it would have even survived,” Levine admitted. “I believe it would have, but we cannot really know that for sure.”

Chris Agee June 19th, 2023

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