Search engine Cuil is valued at absurdly high level of $200M, despite flop
What were they thinking?
Investors valued the new search engine company Cuil at a stratospheric level of $200 million post-money in December, during the company’s second round of funding before the search engine launched.
The company, which hyped itself leading up to its launch two months ago, among other things boasting of a larger index of pages than Google, was met with very critical reviews. There’s nothing really compelling about Cuil. It looks destined to struggle. It’s… Continue Reading
Cuil might just be cool enough to become the Google-killer in search
Even though I try to approach every startup with an open mind, there are few companies more likely to provoke knee-jerk skepticism than those claiming to compete head-to-head with Google in Web search. But a new company called Cuil looks like it could actually give Google some real competition.
For one thing, the executives behind Menlo Park, Calif.-based Cuil (pronounced “cool,” and previously spelled “Cuill”) should have a good idea of what’s needed to take on… Continue Reading
Search investments don’t cool — Cuill secures $25M
Google is dominating the search business. New numbers from Hitwise suggest Google controlled over 67 percent of all U.S. searches in March — its highest number yet. That apparently isn’t stopping some big time investments in field.
Search start-up Cuill (yes, as the title suggests, it’s pronounced “cool”) has secured a large second of equity financing. The company is currently in stealth mode and little is known about it. On its bare-boned site, the company does… Continue Reading
Achates Power, a clean diesel engine startup, funded by Sequoia
Investments in clean-burning combustion engines are picking up, as VCs bet that batteries and exotic fuels like hydrogen won’t be the end of the story for powering automobiles.
The latest is Achates Power, a San Diego, Calif. startup working on a clean diesel. Although details are thin, the company’s website promises to create “new benchmarks in fuel economy and power density.”
Constructing a new type of engine is a risky bet, relying not only on the ability… Continue Reading