Metaweb, another Danny Hillis nerdvana?
 |
| Danny Hillis |
More on MetaWeb, the secretive San Francisco start-up we pointed to yesterday. It has raised $15 million from big-name venture capital firm Benchmark and others.
As we mentioned, the company is a spinout from Applied Minds, and was founded by Danny Hillis. Turns out, this guy Hillis is quite a character. Here is a snippet from John Battelle’s blog item from over a year ago, describing his visit to Hillis at an outwardly drab area in southern California’s Glendale:
In fact, the place felt a bit cramped and claustrophobic…That all changed once Danny came out to meet me. After chit chatting for a few minutes, he took me to a small room – no wider than my outstretched arms – at the far end of which stood one of those classic red English phone booths. We stepped inside – a bit cramped – and Danny lifted the receiver and dictated a passphrase of some sort. Presto – the rear wall of the booth opened, and we stepped into – nerdvana…
If you read the whole item, you’ll see why MetaWeb might be yet another playground here in Silicon Valley. Got to love this place. Pulling in the best from all over — still.
And here’s the release about the funding.
Next Story: Six Apart confirms $12M in venture capital — may launch anti-spam legislation initiative
Previous Story: Former Apple execs, including Woz, launch "blank-check" company, Acquicor
About the Author, Matt Marshall
Matt launched VentureBeat in September of 2006, with the realization that no one else was covering the entrepreneurial and tech innovation scene with the velocity or depth that he was. Prior to founding VentureBeat, he covered venture capital for the San Jose Mercury News from 2001 to 2006. In 2002, Matt was awarded "Journalist of the Year" by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists. Prior to working at the Merc, he was a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Bonn, Germany from 1995 to 1998, and a writer for the Washington Post in 1994. Matt holds a PhD in Government and an MA in German and European Studies from Georgetown University. In addition to VentureBeat, Matt is also the Executive Producer of DEMO, the leading launchpad event for emerging technologies.
