The application generates revenue through hyperlocal advertising to an estimated 130 million users. In June 2013, Waze Mobile was acquired by Google for US$1.3 billion.
Funding for the initial project was provided by two Israeli venture capital firms, Magma and Vertex Ventures Israel, as well as by an early-stage American venture capital firm, Bluerun Ventures. The software was originally developed in Israel by Waze Mobile, a company founded by Israeli entrepreneurs Ehud Shabtai, Amir Shinar, and Uri Levine, veterans of the Israeli intelligence unit 8200. Waze describes its application as a community-driven initiative that is free to download and use. In addition to turn-by-turn navigation, it incorporates user-submitted travel times and route details while downloading location-dependent information over a cellular network. Waze Mobile Ltd, ( / w eɪ z/ Hebrew: ווייז מובייל בע'מ) doing business as Waze ( Hebrew: ווייז), formerly FreeMap Israel, is a subsidiary company of Google that provides satellite navigation software on smartphones and other computers that support the Global Positioning System (GPS).
