Mirabilis (company)
Mirabilis was an Israeli company that developed the ICQ instant messaging program, a pioneer of online chatting that revolutionized communication over the Internet.[1]
| Founded | July 1996, Israel |
|---|---|
| Founder | Yossi Vardi |
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor | AOL Mail.ru Group |
| Owner | Digital Sky Technologies (ICQ) AOL |
History
Mirabilis was founded in July 1996 by Arik Vardi, Yair Goldfinger, Sefi Vigiser and Amnon Amir.[2]
Goldfinger, Visiger, Vardi and Amir met while working for a Tel Aviv software company, Zapa Digital Arts, that specialized in three-dimensional graphic tools for the Internet. In 1996, they left Zapa and began to toy with ideas for new Internet innovations. They created ICQ in less than two months, but had no funding. Yossi Vardi, the father of Arik Vardi and one of the founders of Israel Chemicals, agreed to invest a few hundred thousand dollars to develop the technology.[3] Mirabilis was established in a small apartment in San Jose, California, where Internet access was cheaper.[3]
ICQ grew as people encouraged their friends to join so they could communicate with each other. This established a powerful network effect as prospective users strongly preferred the system where their friends were likely to be.
It was purchased by America Online (AOL) for $407 million in 1998.[4]
AOL sold ICQ to Digital Sky Technologies for $187.5 million on April 28, 2010.[5]
References
- Yair Goldfinger, serial entrepreneur / An intensely private technology angel, The Marker Archived 2020-01-26 at the Wayback Machine
- The ICQ StoryArchived 2003-06-02 at the Wayback Machine
- An artist for the high-tech age
- "AOL Buys Israel's Mirabilis". internetnews.com. 8 June 1998. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
- "AOL Sells Instant Messaging Service ICQ To DST For $187.5 Million". TechCrunch. 28 April 2010. Retrieved 2 November 2015.