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. 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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