Zebra Software Solutions of Israel, the company behind personalized online news site newZPrint, notified its subscribers last week that it would close down the site within the next few weeks, as it could no longer continue providing support. Attempts made by subscribers to reach the company by phone and e-mail, failed. Zebra is owned by ISAL of the Netherlands and private investors, including Harry Fox, founder of Versaware.
According to Zebra, the site had a subscriber base of 100,000.
Zebra was founded in 1996 by Drew Tick, Haim Engler and Ephraim S. Jonah. The initial investment of $350,000 was provided by a private investor, in return for a 6.9% share. At the same time, Zebra developed InfoPager, a program that enabled the transfer of complex graphic information over the Internet.
In 1997, the Jerusalem Post purchased the program, and Zebra reported it was in contact with other newspapers interested in buying the program. In January 1998, Zebra executed a private placement of $2-3 million, at which time ISAL acquired a 15% stake in the company for $1 million and Net Results Holdings purchased a 27% share.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on August 1, 2000.