Blekko raises $11.5M to take a run at Google search
Arguing that Google’s search product is becoming more and more antiquated, stealthy new entry Blekko announced that it raised $11.5 million in capital from U.S. Venture Partners and CMEA Capital to make a splash with its launch — though when that will be remains a mystery. Some at the company say three months from now, others say there is no set date yet, reports paidContent.
So far, the company has said only that it diverges from Google and traditional search engines without specifying exactly how. Whatever the core idea is, however, it has certainly impressed the right people — Ning co-founder Marc Andreessen and Western Technology provided a $3 million second round of angel financing for the company in May 2008.
Considering that Microsoft’s Bing has even had a hard time chipping away at Google’s goliath market share, it seems unlikely that Blekko will succeed out of the gate. That being said, it has gotten enough people excited to raise $17.5 million to date (including a $1 million cred line). But for now, Blekko’s home page remains an odd photo of a puppet created by founder Rich Skrenta’s daughter.
Next Story: Joule Biotech squeezes liquid fuel out of sunlight
Previous Story: Rayspan raises $12.5 million to filter out noise in cell phones
About the Author, Camille Ricketts
Camille is the lead writer for GreenBeat. She came to VentureBeat from Google where she worked on its traditional platforms team, particularly in TV. Before that, she was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in New York and London. Follow her on Twitter at @camillericketts, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.
With GreenBeat 2009, VentureBeat's all-star conference on all things Smart Grid, coming up in November, Camille will be expanding coverage of this exciting space. Stay up to date by following @greenbeat2009 on Twitter or by becoming a fan of the event on Facebook here.