Retrevo, which has labeled itself “the ultimate in consumer electronics search,” reportedly became $3.2 million richer today. The company acquired the money through a venture financing round.
SearchEngineWatch’s Eric Enge broke the news, and according to him, “The round was led by Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), and Alloy Ventures, a Series A investor, also participated . . .”
“This puts the company in a good position to capitalize on its early success in launching their web site last September,” Enge continued. “According to Ammar Hanafi, general partner Alloy Ventures, the investment round highlights the confidence that the investors have in the Retrevo team’s ability to execute.”
After briefly looking over the Retrevo site, I’d say that the investors’ confidence is well-founded. The home page is clean (it’s actually reminiscent of Google), and the engine seems to work efficiently enough. Retrevo allows users to “research a product,” “troubleshoot a problem,” “find daily deals,” and pour over articles, reviews, and user guides. That’s not bad at all.
Also, instead of the typical “beta” disclaimer, the word “gamma” is prominently displayed on the main page. Now, those are the second and third letters of the Greek alphabet, respectively, and three presumably represents an advance over two. I encountered a less encouraging definition of “gamma,” however – Retrevo may want to rethink using that term.
Still, Retrevo – which was recently chosen by AlwaysOn Media as “one of the . . . 100 Top Private Companies” – seems to be doing well for itself. And that fresh $3.2 million certainly won’t do it any harm.
