Israel-based search engine technology producer Twiggle has achieved a second close of its series A round following an investment by e-commerce group Alibaba, TechCrunch reported yesterday.
The company has not officially confirmed the size of the extension, which adds to a $12.5m first close achieved last month that was led by media group Naspers. However, Twiggle confirmed it has raised approximately $20m in total funding to date, putting the extension at around $5.3m.
The first close had also featured internet company Yahoo Japan as well as VC firm State of Mind Ventures and private investor Sir Ronald Cohen.
Twiggle previously secured $2.2m in a 2014 seed round from investors including State of Mind.
Established in 2013, Twiggle is working on technology for e-commerce search engines to provide more relevant results by sourcing additional product information from the web and making it possible to search for products in conversational English.
The money will support a recruitment drive for Twiggle’s R&D team.
Amir Konigsberg, founder and chief executive of Twiggle, said: “We are uniquely aware of the value that companies place on the privacy of their data and work with utmost respect for this information while ensuring the highest level of transparency.”