Waze’s crowdsourced driving data heads to local news, now 9M users strong

Thanks to its popular crowdsourced navigation app, Waze is sitting on a pile of valuable traffic data. Today the company announced an intriguing use for that data goldmine: powering your local TV station’s traffic reports.

Waze is launching a program to let any broadcast network take advantage of its citizen traffic data, which gives networks access to instant updates about traffic conditions. The company has partnered with 12 launch stations, which have been featuring Waze’s … Continue Reading

Waze raises $30M for its crowdsourced driving app, hits 7M users

There’s no stopping Waze, the crowdsourced app that offers free GPS navigation. The company announced today that it has raised another $30 million in growth funding, led by Horizon Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Waze also confirmed that it has topped over 7 million users, thanks to its aggressive global expansion.

The news comes on the heels of Waze’s recently launched 3.0 version, which boasts a revamped design, search integration, and more. The … Continue Reading

Waze revs up crowdsourced driving app with $25M

Waze, makers of an innovative crowdsourced app that offers free driving directions, is on a roll. The company just announced that it has scored $25 million in a second round of funding.

Waze says the funding will be used to “expand corporate and marketing initiatives,” build up its core infrastructure, and increase its staff as the company moves its headquarters from Tel Aviv to Palo Alto. In an interview, the company told VentureBeat that its … Continue Reading

Smartphones taking over the navigation market (study)

More speed bumps lie ahead for in-car navigation devices. As maps are becoming a standard feature in smartphones, handheld devices are truly taking over the navigation market for cars, according to a recent report by market research firm iSuppli.

The report indicates that smartphones have already become the most important platform for maps and navigation, and the number of smartphone-based navigation systems will increase tenfold this year, not to mention hitting numbers nearly forty times … Continue Reading