Metaweb

This article is about the company Metaweb Technologies. For the defunct Quicksilver Wiki, previously known as The Metaweb, see Neal Stephenson.
Metaweb Technologies, Inc.
Private
Industry Data management
Fate acquired
(by Google in July, 2010)
Founded 2005
Founder Danny Hillis, Robert Cook
Headquarters San Francisco, California, USA
Key people
 Kurt Bollacker, chief scientist
Danny Hillis, chairman
Thomas Layton, CEO[1]
Robert Cook, EVP, product development
John Giannandrea, CTO
Products Freebase — an online database
Website www.metaweb.com

Metaweb Technologies, Inc. was a San Francisco-based company that developed Freebase, described as an "open, shared database of the world's knowledge". The company, founded by Robert Cook[2] and Danny Hillis in 2005, was acquired by Google in 2010.[3] Although Metaweb no longer exists as a separate corporate entity, Freebase and its associated website freebase.com continue to be provided as an open database under Metaweb's original CC-BY licensing terms. In December 2014, Google announced that it would be closing Freebase in 2015, transferring the data to Wikidata.[4]

Funding

On March 14, 2006, Metaweb received $15 million in funding. Investors included: Benchmark Capital, Millennium Technology Ventures, and Omidyar Network.[5] Kevin Harvey of Benchmark Capital is a member of Metaweb's board of directors. On January 15, 2008, Metaweb announced a $42.5 million Series B round led by Goldman Sachs and Benchmark Capital.[6]

Acquisition

On July 16, 2010, Google acquired Metaweb for an undisclosed sum.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Metaweb announces hiring of Thomas Layton, CEO
  2. ↑ Markoff, John (2007-03-09). "Start-Up Aims for Database to Automate Web Searching". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
  3. ↑ "Metaweb joins Google" (Press release). Metaweb. 2010-07-16. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  4. ↑ Douglas, Jason (December 16, 2014). "Announcement: From Freebase to Wikidata". Freebase Discuss. Google Groups. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Metaweb Technologies, Inc. Receives $15 Million of Financing From Benchmark Capital, Millennium Technology Ventures and Omidyar Network" (Press release). Benchmark Capital. 2006-03-13. Retrieved 2007-03-09.
  6. ↑ Metaweb Raises $42.5 Million led by Goldman Sachs and Benchmark Capital (company press release)
  7. ↑ Deeper Understanding with Metaweb (company press release)

External links

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