Carlson Wagonlit Travel, a US-based business travel manager, has acquired WorldMate, an Israel and US–based mobile travel assistant also called MobiMate, just as one of the lead corporate venturing partners leaves his firm.
News provider TechCrunch said the purchase price was $20m for WorldMate, which has more than 10 million travelers use the mobile application.
Founded in 2000 by Nadav Gur, WorldMate has reportedly raised $14.35m from what is now called Motorola Mobility Venture Capital, the corporate venturing unit of telecom equipment provider Motorola Mobility, and BlackBerry Partners Fund, which has commitments from phone maker Research In motion among others.
The exit comes as Mony Hassid (pictured), Israel-based partner of Motorola Mobility Venture Capital, said he planned to leave the corporate venturing unit following the parent company’s acquisition by search engine provider Google. Google’s ventures unit only currently operates in the US.
Hassid said by email: “I would like to let you know that I am about to leave Motorola Mobility in the near future.”
His portfolio includes Amimon, Broadlight, Worldmate, NextNine, Amobee, TuneWiki and Catch Media. Former portfolio includes MobilEye, Coppergate, DesignArtNetworks and Lumus.