Conduit (company)

Conduit Ltd.
Private
Industry
Founded 2005
Founder
Headquarters New York City, United States;
Area served
 Worldwide
Number of employees
 100[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 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 run a successful but controversial toolbar platform business (see main article Conduit toolbar). This toolbar is flagged by most antivirus software as potentially unwanted and adware. Conduit's toolbar software is often downloaded by malware packages from other publishers.

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.[9]

The company had more than 400 employees in 2013.[10] In September same year, Conduit spun off its entire website toolbar business division, which combined with Perion Network.[11] 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 is achieved with wide range of services and a deal with Amazon Appstore.[12]

Conduit announced it would purchase Keeperz, 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. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ Jeremy Quittner (January 1, 2013). "The "Real Valuation" Is About Having Fun". Inc. Magazine. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  11. ↑ Ingrid Lunden (October 7, 2013). "After Buying Wibiya For $45M, Conduit Discontinues Product As It Shifts Away From Toolbars". TechCrunch.
  12. ↑ Angeles, Sara (July 28, 2015). "18 Best App Makers". BusinessNewsDaily.
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