Metaweb
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Data management |
| Founded | July 2005 |
| Founder | Danny Hillis, Veda Hlubinka-Cook |
| Fate | acquired (by Google in July, 2010) |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | Kurt Bollacker, chief scientist Danny Hillis, chairman Thomas Layton, CEO[1] Veda Hlubinka-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 was co-founded by Danny Hillis, Veda Hlubinka-Cook and John Giannandrea in 2005.[2]
Metaweb was acquired by Google in 2010.[3] Google shut down Freebase in 2016, transferring all its data to Wikidata.[4] [5]
Funding
On March 14, 2006, Metaweb received $15 million in funding. Investors included Benchmark Capital, Millennium Technology Ventures, and Omidyar Network.[6] On January 15, 2008, Metaweb announced a $42.5 million Series B round led by Goldman Sachs and Benchmark Capital.[7]
Kevin Harvey of Benchmark Capital was a member of Metaweb's board of directors.
Acquisition
On July 16, 2010, Google acquired Metaweb for an undisclosed sum.[8]
References
- ^ Metaweb announces hiring of Thomas Layton, CEO Archived 2008-02-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Markoff, John (2007-03-09). "Start-Up Aims for Database to Automate Web Searching". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
- ^ "Metaweb joins Google" (Press release). Metaweb. 2010-07-16. Archived from the original on 2012-05-30. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
- ^ Douglas, Jason (December 16, 2014). "Announcement: From Freebase to Wikidata". Freebase Discuss. Google Groups. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
- ^ "So long and thanks for all the data!". 2 May 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Metaweb Raises $42.5 Million led by Goldman Sachs and Benchmark Capital Archived 2008-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (company press release)
- ^ Deeper Understanding with Metaweb (company press release)