Oct.02, 2012 | 6:47 AM--Apple’s loss is Waze’s gain – Apple’s decision to include built-in maps and navigation services in its new iOS 6 operating system was expected to hurt Waze. But the Israeli crowd-sourced navigational start-up has only benefited from Apple’s messy move. Shortly after the launch, CEO Tim Cook was forced to apologize to hundreds of millions of Apple users around the world for the faulty map and navigation apps in the iPhone5 software. Waze registered a 40 percent increase in the number of daily downloads of its app, which serves more than 20 million users around the world, including more than 5 million in the United States alone. In contrast to Apple’s and Google’s navigational apps, Waze uses data provided by users in order to map out traffic density, enabling drivers to reducer time behind the wheel.

FiftyOne likely to float – The Israeli Internet company FiftyOne is expected to go public during 2013. The company, which incorporated in the U.S., developed a system to boost global sales online for leading retailers, including Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and Barney’s New York. Surfers on retail websites around the world can see the prices of goods listed in their local currency and make purchases using payment methods accepted in their countries. In addition to serving as a payment transfer clearing house, FiftyOne also handles shipping logistics for its 150 clients. The company closed 2011 with sales of $140 million, a sum that is expected to increase to $250 million in 2012. Market estimates suggest that the company will try to raise capital with an IPO that values that company at over $1 billion.

An IPO by FiftyOne would be the first by an Israeli Internet company in over a year. The past year saw jumps in market value estimates and investor curiosity in many Internet firms, but no Israeli one took the leap.

Most Israeli start-ups make it past the five-year mark – 65% of Israeli start-ups make it past their fifth year in business, according to research published by the Central Bureau of Statistics last week. This surprising figure flouts conventional wisdom. According to the venture capital model used in the high-tech industry, only two out of every 10 start-ups succeed in providing a return on their initial investment. The CBS’s survey also found that the number of start-ups operating in Israel jumped by 66 percent between 2003, when the high-tech bubble burst, and 2008…Read More>>

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