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Onavo developed mobile applications to optimize consumer data usage and offered robust mobile market intelligence. Its core products compressed data, helping users reduce costs and enhance smartphone performance. The company also provided Onavo Insights, a service delivering essential analytics on app market trends.
Founded in 2010 by Guy Rosen and Roi Tiger, Onavo emerged from the insight that escalating mobile data consumption created significant costs and inefficiencies for users. Rosen, as CEO, and Tiger, as CTO, leveraged their expertise to empower consumers with greater control over their mobile experiences.
Onavo's consumer apps served individuals prioritizing efficient data management. Concurrently, Onavo Insights assisted industry professionals like marketers and developers with critical data for understanding the mobile ecosystem. The company envisioned enabling users and businesses to navigate the complex mobile landscape efficiently.
Onavo has raised $13.0M across 2 funding rounds.
Key people at Onavo.
Onavo has raised $13.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Onavo has raised $13.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $10.0M Series B in January 2012.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 1, 2012 | $10M Series B | Jason Wong | 10D, Cyberstarts VC, Magma Venture Partners, Motorola Mobility, Sequoia Capital | Announced |
| Apr 1, 2011 | $3M Series A | Gili Raanan | 10D, Cyberstarts VC, Yahal Zilka | Announced |
Key people at Onavo.
Onavo was an Israeli mobile analytics company founded in 2010 that developed data-compression software and apps to monitor and minimize mobile data usage, including tools like Onavo Count for bandwidth tracking and VPN services Onavo Extend and Onavo Protect for compression and security.[1][2][3] It served mobile users seeking to optimize data plans while providing aggregated insights on app usage trends via its Onavo Insights platform, solving the problem of high data costs and enabling analytics for competitive intelligence.[1][2][4] Acquired by Facebook (now Meta) in 2013 for its analytics capabilities, Onavo influenced major decisions like the WhatsApp purchase but ceased operations in February 2019 amid privacy controversies, having raised $13M total.[1][2]
Onavo was co-founded in 2010 by Roi Tiger and Guy Rosen in Tel Aviv, Israel, with initial operations later shifting to Palo Alto, California.[1][2][3] Tiger, an entrepreneur and former Meta engineering executive, and Rosen launched the company to address exploding mobile data usage through innovative cloud-based compression technology that reduced data without client-side software.[1][5] Early traction came from consumer apps tracking app-specific bandwidth, leading to the 2013 Facebook acquisition, where Onavo's VPN-based analytics allowed monitoring of competitors like Snapchat—internally dubbed "Project Ghostbusters"—prompting strategic moves such as the 2014 WhatsApp buy.[2][4] Post-acquisition, Tiger became VP of Engineering at Facebook, but Onavo's data practices drew scrutiny.[1][2]
Onavo rode the early 2010s mobile data explosion, where smartphone adoption surged but bandwidth caps constrained users and apps, making compression and usage analytics critical for emerging markets and cost-sensitive regions like those targeted by Internet.org.[3][4] Its timing aligned with the app economy's rise, providing rare visibility into encrypted traffic amid growing privacy tensions—ironically fueling Facebook's dominance by revealing competitors' traction, as with Snapchat and WhatsApp.[2] Onavo influenced the tech ecosystem by normalizing VPNs for analytics (pre-"Project Ghostbusters" scrutiny) and highlighting data ethics debates, contributing to stricter app store policies like Apple's 2018 ban on rival-app tracking, which accelerated Onavo's shutdown.[1][2]
Onavo's legacy endures through its founders—Tiger now builds a $400M-valued stealth cybersecurity startup post-Meta—and its demonstration of analytics' power in mobile battles, though privacy backlash ended its run.[1] No revival is likely given its 2019 closure and policy violations, but it prefigured trends like zero-rating debates, advanced mobile VPNs, and AI-driven usage optimization. As data sovereignty and encryption tighten, Onavo's story warns of analytics' double-edged sword, shaping how Meta and peers balance intelligence with trust in an app-dominated world.[1][2]
Onavo has raised $13.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Onavo's investors include Jason Wong, 10D, Cyberstarts VC, Magma Venture Partners, Motorola Mobility, Sequoia Capital, Gili Raanan, Yahal Zilka.
