Quixey

Quixey was a company located in Mountain View, California that called itself "the search engine for apps".[1] Users could search for an app on Quixey by describing what they were looking for using natural language.[2] The company invented a new type of search, "Functional Search," that gathered app information from review sites, blogs, social media sites, and additional sources.[3] The technology allowed users to search across multiple platforms, eliminating the need for multiple searches using different mobile devices.[4] In 2015, Quixey raised a $60 million investment round at a valuation of approximately $600 million.[5]

Quixey
TypePrivate
FoundedMountain View, California, United States (2009)
DefunctFebruary 2017 (2017-02)
Headquarters303 Bryant Street
Mountain View, California, CA
Key people
Mark Lazar,
CEO;
Tomer Kagan,
Co-founder, Chief Strategy Officer;
Liron Shapira,
Co-founder, Chief Science Officer
ProductsNatural language search engine technology for finding mobile applications
Websitewww.quixey.com

Quixey shut down in February 2017.[6]

Quixey’s Functional Search technology used data from across the web (blogs, review sites, social media outlets, and more) to learn exactly what each app can do.[3] With this data, the search engine enabled users to find apps without knowing the name or description.[7]

History

Quixey was co-founded in 2009 by Chief Strategy Officer (and former CEO) Tomer Kagan and Chief Science Officer Liron Shapira.[8] The company spent a year and a half building Functional Search[9] before it launched in private beta on April 7, 2011.[10]

On December 4, 2012, Quixey partnered with the federated search engine, Ask.com.[11] A month later, the company stated that it was powering nearly 100 million queries per month and had grown to over 50 employees.[12] On June 27, 2013, the company announced its Sponsored Apps program, an app advertising product and Quixey's first step toward monetization.[13]

In February 2016, several executives reportedly left Quixey as the company missed revenue targets.[5]

The company shut down in February 2017.

Funding

At the same time as its private launch, Quixey announced its $400,000 seed round funding, led by Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors.[14] On May 23, 2011, the company officially launched at TechCrunch Disrupt New York, opening its website to the public.[15] In August 2011, the company closed its Series A round of funding, led by U.S. Venture Partners and WI Harper Group, with participation from Webb Investment Network and Innovation Endeavors.[16] The company continued to provide a web version of Functional Search, but emphasized offering its technology to carriers, app stores, and handset makers.[17]

Between August 2011 and June 2012, when Quixey announced its Series B round of $20 million, the company grew from six employees to 30.[18] The Series B round, announced June 7, 2012, included previous investors WI Harper Group, U.S. Venture Partners, and Innovation Endeavors, as well as new investors Atlantic Bridge, SK Planet, and Translink Capital.[19]

Partners

Quixey’s partners included Ask.com, a federated search engine that gets 3% of all U.S.-based query volume.[20] The company began powering Ask.com’s app search on December 4, 2012.[21] Quixey powered app search for Sprint on two products: Sprint Digital Lounge and Sprint Zone,[22] and announced a partnership with Microsoft in late April 2013.[23]

Corporate affairs and company culture

Early on, Quixey built a coding challenge called Quixey Challenge to attract engineering talent. The contest asked participants to solve a bug in a famous line of code in under one minute to win $100 and a Quixey t-shirt. In December 2011, the contest yielded 38 winners, five of which became serious candidates for three open positions.[24]

Quixey was headquartered in downtown Mountain View, California, in Silicon Valley. Its office had themed conference rooms constructed by local set designers, such as Ski Lodge, Picnic, Movie Theater, and Wild West.[25]

References
  1. "App search engine Quixey wants to take on Google". USA Today. 2014-05-29. Retrieved 2018-11-05.
  2. "App Search Engine Quixey Launches in Private Beta". Pcmag.com. 2011-06-08. Retrieved 2013-03-27.
  3. "Fast-Growing App Search Engine Quixey Raises $20 Million Series B". TechCrunch. 2012-06-07. Retrieved 2013-03-27.
  4. "Quixey wants to help you find apps that matter, gets $20M". Venturebeat.com. Retrieved 2013-03-27.
  5. Bergen, Mark (February 29, 2016). "Quixey COO, CTO Depart as Mobile Startup Misses Revenue Targets". Re/code. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  6. Irfan, Jafrey (2018-02-05). "5 infamous startup failures in 2017: pick your lessons". CIO.com. IDG Communications. Retrieved 2018-11-05. It eventually had to let go of most of its employees finally shut down in February 2017.
  7. Kim, Ryan (2011-04-08). "Quixey Looks to Make App Discovery More Natural — Tech News and Analysis". Gigaom.com. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
  8. "Quixey: A Search Engine For The Apps Era". searchengineland.com. 2012-10-31. Retrieved 2013-03-27.
  9. Jennifer Van Grove (2011-04-13). "One Search Engine for a Million Apps [INVITES]". Mashable.com. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
  10. Scott, Hilary (2011-04-14). "App Search Engine Quixey Launches in Private Beta | News & Opinion". PCMag.com. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
  11. http://bigstory.ap.org/article/askcom-adds-mobile-apps-its-search-results%5B%5D
  12. "Former Zynga 'Fixer' Guru Gowrappan Heads To App Search Startup Quixey As EVP Of Products". TechCrunch. 2013-01-18. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
  13. "Quixey Adds Sponsored Results To Its App Search Engine, Its First Step To Revenue Generation". Techcrunch.com. 2013-06-27. Retrieved 2013-07-03.
  14. Kincaid, Jason. "Quixey Raises $400K From Eric Schmidt's Innovation Endeavors For App Search". Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  15. "#TCDisrupt: Find the Perfect App With Quixey". SocialTimes. 2011-05-23. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
  16. "Quixey grabs $3.8M for app search". 2011-08-29. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  17. Savitz, Eric (2012-04-18). "Quixey Raises $3.8M Round; Searching The Functional Web". Forbes. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
  18. "Fast-Growing App Search Engine Quixey Raises $20 Million Series B". TechCrunch. 2012-06-07. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
  19. "Quixey Snags $20M for App Search – Liz Gannes – News". AllThingsD. 2012-06-07. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
  20. "Web search + app search, together at last: Ask.com integrates Quixey app search results". Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  21. Perez, Sarah. "App Search Company Quixey To Power App Search Results On Ask.com". Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  22. "Quixey Partners With Sprint To Power App Search On Sprint's Android Smartphones & Online Portal". Techcrunch.com. 2012-10-04. Retrieved 2013-03-27.
  23. "Microsoft's Switch to Windows Phone app for Android attempts to prove you're not missing out". Engadget.com. 2013-04-30. Retrieved 2013-07-03.
  24. "How do you hire great engineers? Give them a challenge — Tech News and Analysis". Gigaom.com. 2012-01-19. Retrieved 2013-03-05.
  25. "Check out Quixey's awesome new office, complete with wild west saloon slideshow – Silicon Valley Business Journal". Bizjournals.com. 2013-01-22. Retrieved 2013-03-05.

Further reading
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