By Yi-Wyn Yen
These days, getting a large handout from venture capitalists is rare. It’s even tougher when your startup needs a lot of cash to compete with Google.
Kosmix, however, has defied the odds. In late October, the plucky startup raised $20 million, led by Fortune’s parent company Time Warner (TWX), by assuring investors that Google is not the only way to search on the Web. Kosmix says it takes a new approach to searching by categorizing everything by broad topics for those times when you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for.
“This reflects the fact that Kosmix has a unique technology that’s working well,” said Jonathan Miller, the former chief executive of AOL who is on Kosmix’s board. “No question it’s a difficult period to raise significant amounts of money in a late-stage round.”
A powerhouse of investors are banking on a future where search will evolve beyond typing in specific [...]
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