Retrevo, electronic product shopping site, raises $8M
Retrevo, the Silicon Valley company that helps you shop electronic products, and then helps you after the purchase (with troubleshooting tips), has raised $8 million more in a second round of financing.
We reported on the company’s first fundings, which totaled $3.9 million (see our coverage here and here), and then later on its release of a set of useful comparison features. Retrevo now offers a great overview of a category of products. For example, if you… Continue Reading
Retrevo launches clever new way to shop for consumer electronics
Today, Retrevo, the search engine for gadgets, is launching a well-executed attempt to solve the information overload problem ordinary people face when they shop for consumer electronics online.
We’ve written about Retrevo before and have been skeptical because the market is packed. Incumbents like CNET offer “expert” opinions and link to a range of stores, newer companies like Buzzillions aggregate consumer reviews. There are comparison shopping engines like Pronto and Shopping.com. And last time we checked,… Continue Reading
The courtesan sisters of comparison search, and Thefind
Updated
If you’re searching to buy a product online, there’s no single “branded” engine that stands out — and for a reason. All of the major shopping engines sites have sold out to advertisers.
This may represent a grand opportunity: If a Google-like search engine emerges in shopping, perceived to be without bias, it could be hugely popular. It could “become the ubiquitous brand,” said Dan Ciporin, the former CEO of Shopping.com, calling this a “missed… Continue Reading
Wize.com, the search engine that ranks products
Wize.com, a San Mateo start-up, has launched yet another search engine for consumer electronics and other goods.
Wize’s promise hangs on a single, skinny thread: Its “Wize Rank” concept. Wize Rank is a numeric ranking of products (from zero to 100). Each product is rated according to how well users and reviewers judge it, along with the buzz it’s getting. It is a cute play on Google’s concept of “Page Rank.” The exact “Wize Rank” formula… Continue Reading
Consumer electronics search engine Retrevo raises $3.2M
Updated
Retrevo, the search engine for consumer electronics products, has raised $3.2 million more in venture capital — timing the news to generate buzz ahead the CES consumer electronics conference in Las Vegas next week.
The Sunnyvale company, which we first wrote about here, lets you research products before buying them, and and then gives you tips about use afterward. It launched last fall, and chief exec Vipin Jain tells VentureBeat the search engine has had “hundreds… Continue Reading
Retrevo offers gadget search engine; raises less than $1M
There is a rolling thunder of new Silicon Valley Internet start-ups launching on funding of around $1 million or less.
The latest is Retrevo, a Sunnyvale search engine focused on research and other advice on consumer electronics. It has raised less than $1 million from Alloy Ventures.
You may try to call this a Web 2.0 bubble, but frankly, we don’t see any end to this. There is so much money around, these start-ups will keep… Continue Reading
Digg woes, Segway’s expansion, Second Life hacked, Chinese grass & more
(Update: Corrected name of company acquired by News Corp. It was Newroo)
Roundup of latest Silicon Valley action:
One of Digg’s top diggers, p9, has quit, and Netscape is grinning — When Kevin Rose, founder of the news-ranking site, Digg, said he wanted to make the voting process for stories more democratic, he apparently alienated some of the site’s top users. One top digger has left, and slammed the door loudly in protest. Here’s a good description of… Continue Reading