Community-based free traffic and navigation service Waze has picked up an additional $30 million in funding. This latest funding round comes from Horizons Ventures Hong Kong (which manages private venture investments for Hutchison Whampoa chairman Li Ka Shing) and the Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Digital Growth Fund & iFund.
Waze says the money will be used to launch its traffic-reporting platform in China and to support its user base of more than 7 million drivers worldwide.
Noam Bardin, CEO of Waze, said “Since our last round in December, Waze has seen phenomenal growth around the world. Expanding to China, the world’s fastest growing automotive and smartphone market, is an obvious next move for us.”
Waze launched in the UK four months ago and is currently available on Apple and Android devices. The app operates on crowd-sourced data, from maps to traffic reports, safety cameras and points of interest. Users can contribute to map information simply by driving with the app open.