In a series B round of funding, the Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund showed its confidence in ChaCha by tossing in $2 million. Morton Meyerson must really like ChaCha, though – he gave the human-powered search company $8 million.
We’d normally shy away from formal statements, but after a contribution like that, Meyerson needs to be heard from. He explained, “It is rare to find a company offering such a game-changing disruptive equation, even in the context of giants like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. Having had the opportunity to work with the entire ChaCha team, I am especially impressed with the caliber of people driving this groundbreaking company.”
Meyerson, who has served as the chairman and CEO of Perot Systems and the president of EDS, then continued, “I am excited for ChaCha’s future potential and think its plan to build upon its human-powered search engine to develop a mobile answers application is brilliant. ChaCha is absolutely in the right place at the right time in a multi-billion dollar industry that is ripe for innovation.”
Although the $8 million may make a stronger statement, that’s quite an endorsement. The approval of the Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund isn’t insignificant, either – as opposed to being some random VC firm, it’s actually a state-sponsored organization.
So what does ChaCha plan to do with all this high-powered support? The company isn’t really saying. It is, however, adding to the hype – CEO Scott A. Jones has promised “to soon unveil the next generation of search that will be the ultimate manifestation of the power of our special human-powered approach.”
