Quixey
{{Infobox company
| name = Quixey
| logo = Quixey logo.png
| logo_size = 150px
| type = Private
| foundation = Mountain View, California, United States (2009)
| location = 303 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
| products = Natural language search engine technology for finding mobile applications
| defunct = {{End date|2017|02}}
}}
Quixey was a company located in Mountain View, California. Quixey search, which it called "functional", allowed apps to be searched for by the actions the app can perform instead of requiring the user to know the name of the app.{{cite web |last=Kim |first=Ryan |url=http://gigaom.com/2011/04/08/quixey-looks-to-make-app-discovery-more-natural/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110408182643/http://gigaom.com/2011/04/08/quixey-looks-to-make-app-discovery-more-natural/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 8, 2011 |title=Quixey Looks to Make App Discovery More Natural — Tech News and Analysis |publisher=Gigaom.com |date=2011-04-08 |access-date=2013-03-05}}{{cite web |url=https://venturebeat.com/2012/06/07/quixey-app-search-20m/ |title=Quixey wants to help you find apps that matter, gets $20M |date=7 June 2012 |publisher=Venturebeat.com |access-date=2013-03-27}} In 2015, Quixey raised a $60 million investment round at a valuation of approximately $600 million.{{cite news |last1=Bergen |first1=Mark |title=Quixey COO, CTO Depart as Mobile Startup Misses Revenue Targets |url=http://recode.net/2016/02/29/quixey-coo-cto-depart-as-mobile-startup-misses-revenue-targets/ |access-date=4 April 2016 |publisher=Re/code |date=February 29, 2016}} Quixey shut down in February 2017.{{cite web |url=https://www.cio.com/article/3252779/startups/5-infamous-startup-failures-in-2017-pick-your-lessons.html |title=5 infamous startup failures in 2017: pick your lessons |last=Irfan |first=Jafrey |date=2018-02-05 |website=CIO.com |publisher=IDG Communications |access-date=2018-11-05 |quote=It eventually had to let go of most of its employees finally shut down in February 2017.}}
History
Quixey was co-founded in 2009 by Chief Strategy Officer (and former CEO) Tomer Kagan and Chief Science Officer Liron Shapira.{{cite web |url=http://searchengineland.com/quixey-a-search-engine-for-the-apps-era-120388 |title=Quixey: A Search Engine For The Apps Era |publisher=searchengineland.com |date=2012-10-31 |access-date=2013-03-27}} The company spent a year and a half building the product.{{cite web |author=Jennifer Van Grove |url=http://mashable.com/2011/04/13/quixey/ |title=One Search Engine for a Million Apps [INVITES] |publisher=Mashable.com |date=2011-04-13 |access-date=2013-03-05}}
On December 4, 2012, Quixey partnered with the federated search engine, Ask.com.{{cite web |url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/askcom-adds-mobile-apps-its-search-results |title=Ask.com adds mobile apps to its search results |website=bigstory.ap.org |access-date=25 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130506012246/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/askcom-adds-mobile-apps-its-search-results |archive-date=6 May 2013 |url-status=dead}} A month later, the company claimed that it was powering nearly 100 million queries per month.{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/01/18/quixey-guru-gowrappan/ |title=Former Zynga 'Fixer' Guru Gowrappan Heads To App Search Startup Quixey As EVP Of Products |publisher=TechCrunch |date=2013-01-18 |access-date=2013-03-05}} On June 27, 2013, the company announced sponsored results, its first attempt at monetization.{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/06/27/quixey-adds-sponsored-results-to-its-app-search-engine-its-first-step-to-revenue-generation/ |title=Quixey Adds Sponsored Results To Its App Search Engine, Its First Step To Revenue Generation |publisher=Techcrunch.com |date=2013-06-27 |access-date=2013-07-03}}
In February 2016, several executives reportedly left Quixey as the company missed revenue targets.
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.{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2011/04/07/quixey-raises-400k-from-eric-schmidt%E2%80%99s-innovation-endeavors-for-app-search/ |title=Quixey Raises $400K From Eric Schmidt's Innovation Endeavors For App Search |first=Jason |last=Kincaid |access-date=1 August 2016}} 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.{{cite web |url=https://venturebeat.com/2011/08/29/quixey-funding/ |title=Quixey grabs $3.8M for app search |access-date=1 August 2016|date=2011-08-29 }} Between August 2011 and June 2012, when Quixey announced its Series B round of $20 million, the company grew from six employees to 30.{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/06/07/fast-growing-app-search-engine-quixey-raises-20-million-series-b/ |title=Fast-Growing App Search Engine Quixey Raises $20 Million Series B |publisher=TechCrunch |date=2012-06-07 |access-date=2013-03-05}}
Partners
Quixey’s partners included Ask.com, a federated search engine that in 2012 was reported to get 3% of all U.S.-based query volume.{{cite web |url=https://venturebeat.com/2012/12/04/web-search-app-search-together-at-last-ask-com-integrates-quixey-app-search-results/ |title=Web search + app search, together at last: Ask.com integrates Quixey app search results |access-date=1 August 2016}} The company began powering Ask.com’s app search on December 4, 2012.{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/12/04/app-search-company-quixey-to-power-app-search-results-on-ask-com/ |title=App Search Company Quixey To Power App Search Results On Ask.com |first=Sarah |last=Perez |access-date=1 August 2016}} Quixey powered app search for Sprint on two products: Sprint Digital Lounge and Sprint Zone.{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/02/19/quixey-partners-with-sprint-to-power-app-search-on-sprints-android-smartphones-online-portal/ |title=Quixey Partners With Sprint To Power App Search On Sprint's Android Smartphones & Online Portal |publisher=Techcrunch.com |date=2012-10-04 |access-date=2013-03-27}}
Quixey Challenge
Early on, Quixey built a coding challenge called Quixey Challenge to attract engineering talent. The contest asked participants to solve a bug 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.{{cite web |url=http://gigaom.com/2012/01/19/quixey-challenge/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120213916/http://gigaom.com/2012/01/19/quixey-challenge/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 20, 2012 |title=How do you hire great engineers? Give them a challenge — Tech News and Analysis |publisher=Gigaom.com |date=2012-01-19 |access-date=2013-03-05}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
Category:Companies based in Mountain View, California
Category:Search engine software
Category:Software companies established in 2009
Category:Software companies disestablished in 2017
Category:Software companies based in Mountain View, CaliforniaCategory:2009 establishments in California