Blekko, a stealth search company started by Topix co-founder Rich Skrenta, has raised $3 million in a second round of funding, according to TechCrunch.
Little is known about the company, and right now its website contains nothing more than a photo of, um, a puppet (see above). But apparently Netscape and Ning co-founder Marc Andreessen, SoftTech VC and Western Technology Investment all think Skrenta (famous for creating the first computer virus) has a good idea, as they’ve contributed the funding at a $23 million post-money valuation. Blekko previously raised a $2 million seed round.
To casual observers, Google seems to have the search market locked up, but that doesn’t stop startups from trying to take on the search giant (or to create a niche outside of Google’s shadow), and it doesn’t stop VCs from investing in them. The funding news comes just two days after Powerset launched its search tool (currently restricted to Wikipedia and Freebase). Powerset has raised $14.5 million, while another stealth search startup, Cuill, has raised a total of $33 million.
