Alibaba Group, the China-based e-commerce trading site backed by Yahoo! and Softbank, has led a $50m series C round in Quixey, a search engine for software applications. GGV Capital also joined the round, along with existing investors Innovation Endeavors, TransLink Capital and US Venture Partners in the U.S., as well as Atlantic Bridge in London and Dublin and WI Harper in Beijing. The company has now raised $74.2m to date.
“Innovation is at the heart of Alibaba’s culture, so backing entrepreneurs who are developing forward-thinking technology is what we love to do,” said Joe Tsai, Executive Vice Chairman at Alibaba. “Quixey has a great vision for the future and a fantastic team to see it through.”
“Consumer adoption of smartphone devices and applications across the Android and iOS ecosystems is changing the game on a global basis,” said Jeff Richards, Partner at GGV Capital. “The Quixey team has an incredible vision for the role that search will play in the mobile ecosystem, and we are thrilled to be part of such a dynamic company.”
The additional funds will be used to further develop Quixey’s Functional Search technology, which allows users to find apps by describing what they want to do, and will also be used to strengthen Quixey’s talent base.
In August 2011, Quixey raised $3.8m in a series A funding to help fuel growth and partnership development. The investment was co-led by U.S. Venture Partners and WI Harper Group with participation by Webb Investment Network in addition to a follow-up investment by Innovation Endeavors.
In June 2012, the company raised $20m in a series B round of funding to expand its team, drive global partnerships and further develop the company’s Functional Search technology. The round included investors Atlantic Bridge, SK Planet and TransLink Capital as well as follow-on investments by US Venture Partners, WI Harper Group and Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors.