Conduit, an Israeli high tech company which enables easy web and mobile toolbar and app development and distribution, might possibly go down in history with Israel’s largest internet-company sale of all time.
The firm is currently negotiating a deal for more than a billion dollars. The potential buyers include web leaders Microsoft and Google. In the past, Conduit turned down a $100 million offer.
Conduit’s network allows businesses and individuals to create personalized apps and toolbars, and their users include large organizations such as MLB and the NBA, Fox News and Time Warner Cable, as well as Rihanna. The network is available to smaller businesses as well.
Almost half of Conduit’s employees were taken on during this past year, although the company was founded in 2005. During its first three years, the firm raised a mere $9.5 million, while in 2009, revenue reached $100 million. Last year, the firm brought in $300 million.
The firm’s chief marketing officer Shaul Olmert was not inclined to comment on the current negotiations. “We have tried to build an internet company on an international scale in Israel,” he said. He added that Conduit is especially committed to Israel, and that it would continue to develop there. According to the company, the network has more than 230 million users; half the amount of Facebook users, and more than both Twitter and LinkedIn.
Conduit’s founders; chairman and CEO Ronen Shilo, Chief Technology Officer Dror Erez and Chief Operating Officer Gaby Bilczyk, own 48% of the company. Yozma, a venture capital fund, owns 10% from their $1.5 million investment in 2005, while Benchmark Capital hold the remaining 21% as a result of an $8.5 million investment in 2008.