Twiggle, an Israel-based e-commerce software developer backed by e-commerce firm Alibaba, internet company Yahoo Japan and media and e-commerce group Naspers, has received $15m in new funding, TechCrunch has reported.
Investment firm MizMaa Ventures and venture capital and private equity firm Korea Investment Partners co-led the round, which increased Twiggle’s total funding to $33m, according to TechCrunch.
Founded in 2014, Twiggle provides complex search technology for e-commerce platforms that utilises artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing, meaning their search engines work much like a live sales assistant would.
The company intends to spend the funding on further development of its Semantic technology including the introduction of new features, and also plans to expand its US sales team and management, chief executive Amir Konigsberg told TechCrunch.
Twiggle raised $2.2m in a 2014 seed round before securing $12.5m in an April 2016 series A round led by Naspers that included Yahoo Japan, State of Mind Ventures and individual investor Ronald Cohen.
Alibaba subsidiary Alibaba Capital Partners added an undisclosed amount the following month in a deal that now appears to have been approximately $3.3m in size.