Conduit (company)

Conduit Ltd.
Private
Industry
Founded 2005
Founder
Headquarters New York City, United States; London, United Kingdom
Area served
 Worldwide
Number of employees
 [1]
Website

www.conduit.com

www.como.com

Conduit Ltd. is an international software company which currently sells a DIY mobile app platform that enables small and medium-sized businesses to create, promote and manage their mobile apps. The new brand name Como was originally Conduit Mobile.[1][2] The company started in 2005 and reinvented itself in 2013, spinning off the website toolbar business that made it the largest Internet company in Israel at the time. [3] [4] [5]

Products

The company's main product is Como, a mobile development platform that allows users to create native and web mobile applications for smartphones.[6] About one million apps have been created, reaching about ten million daily visitors as of June 2014.[6] App creation for its App Gallery is free and it charges a monthly subscription fee to place apps on the Apple Store or Google Play.[6]

The company sold its Conduit website toolbar product in 2013 and no longer offers toolbars, the business that initially brought it to prominence.[3]

History

Conduit was founded in 2005 by Shilo, Dror Erez, and Gaby Bilcyzk.[7][8] Between years 2005 and 2013, it ran a successful but controversial toolbar platform business. This toolbar is flagged by most antivirus software as potentially unwanted and adware.[9] Conduit's toolbar software is often downloaded by malware packages from other publishers.[10]

One of the first successes with this new app maker platform happened in 2012. The platform was used to create NFL player and European soccer-team branded apps.[11]

The company had more than 400 employees in 2013.[12] In September same year, Conduit spun off its entire website toolbar business division, which combined with Perion Network.[13] After the deal, Conduit shareholders owned 81% of Perion's existing shares and both Perion and Conduit remained independent companies.[5] The substantial size of the Conduit user base allowed Perion to immediately surpass AOL in U.S. searches.[5]

In 2015, Como was listed as one of the best app makers in the market. This success was achieved with wide range of services and a deal with Amazon Appstore.[14]

Como announced it would purchase Keeprz, a mobile customer loyalty platform, for $45 million.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Weinglass, Simona (16 July 2015). "Israel's Como acquires Keeprz customer loyalty platform for $50M". GeekTime. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  2. ↑ Fried, Ina (February 7, 2011). "Exclusive: Web App Publisher Conduit Expands Into Mobile". All Things Digital. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  3. 1 2 Tenanbaum, Gil (11 July 2013). "Conduit Gives Up on Its Own Web Browser". Jewish Business News. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  4. ↑ Lisa Damast and Jessica McHugh (June 6, 2012). "Israeli VC struggles continue despite M&A increase". Financial Times. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 Matthew Kanterman and Elliott Gotkine (September 17, 2013). "Perion With Conduit Seen Besting AOL in U.S. Searches". Bloomberg News. Retrieved December 16, 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 Shamah, David. "Do-it-yourself, mobile-app maker big hit with business" (23 June 2014). The Times of Israel. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  7. ↑ Cooper, Steve (January 2, 2009). "Conduit Builds on the Power of the Web Toolbar". TheStreet.com. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
  8. ↑ Grimland, Guy (January 4, 2011). "Israeli startup Conduit with more users than Twitter negotiating billion-dollar exit". Haaretz. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
  9. ↑ "PUP.Optional.Conduit removal instructions". Malware Removal Guides. 2013-08-07. Retrieved 2013-10-12.
  10. ↑ Keenan, Thomas P. (August 1, 2014). Technocreep: The Surrender of Privacy and the Capitalization of Intimacy. Greystone Books. ISBN 9781771641227.
  11. ↑ Neal Ungerleider (January 23, 2012). "Hashtag Hail Mary: Social Media Blitzes The Super Bowl". FastCompany. Retrieved March 13, 2013. Conduit, an Israeli firm with several prominent sports clients including soccer teams Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Chelsea, launched a series of player-branded apps and toolbars.
  12. ↑ Jeremy Quittner (January 1, 2013). "The "Real Valuation" Is About Having Fun". Inc. Magazine. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  13. ↑ Ingrid Lunden (October 7, 2013). "After Buying Wibiya For $45M, Conduit Discontinues Product As It Shifts Away From Toolbars". TechCrunch.
  14. ↑ Angeles, Sara (July 28, 2015). "18 Best App Makers". BusinessNewsDaily.
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