Metaweb Technologies, Inc. was a San Francisco–based company that developed Freebase, described as an "open, shared database of the world's knowledge". The company was co-founded by Danny Hillis, Veda Hlubinka-Cook and John Giannandrea in 2005.[3]
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Data management |
| Founded | July 2005 |
| Founder | Veda Hlubinka-Cook, Danny Hillis, John Giannandrea |
| Fate | acquired by Google in July 2010[1] |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | Kurt Bollacker (Chief scientist) Danny Hillis (Chairman) Thomas Layton (CEO)[2] Veda Hlubinka-Cook EVP, product development John Giannandrea (CTO) |
| Products | Freebase — an online database |
| Website | www.metaweb.com |
Metaweb was acquired by Google in 2010.[1] Google shut down Freebase in 2016, transferring some of the data that met the required notability criteria to Wikidata.[4][5][6]
Funding
editOn March 14, 2006, Metaweb received $15 million in funding. Investors included Benchmark Capital, Millennium Technology Ventures, and Omidyar Network.[7] On January 15, 2008, Metaweb announced a $42.5 million Series B round led by Goldman Sachs and Benchmark Capital.[8]
Kevin Harvey of Benchmark Capital was a member of Metaweb's board of directors.
Acquisition
editOn July 16, 2010, Google acquired Metaweb for an undisclosed sum.[9]
References
edit- ^ a b "Metaweb joins Google" (Press release). Metaweb. 2010-07-16. Archived from the original on 2012-05-30. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
- ^ Metaweb announces hiring of Thomas Layton, CEO Archived 2008-02-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Markoff, John (2007-03-09). "Start-Up Aims for Database to Automate Web Searching". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2018-04-17. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
- ^ "From Freebase to Wikidata: The Great Migration" (PDF). 11 April 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
- ^ Douglas, Jason (December 16, 2014). "Announcement: From Freebase to Wikidata". Freebase Discuss. Google Groups. Archived from the original on January 22, 2011. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
- ^ "So long and thanks for all the data!". 2 May 2016. Archived from the original on 22 January 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
- ^ "Metaweb Technologies, Inc. Receives $15 Million of Financing From Benchmark Capital, Millennium Technology Ventures and Omidyar Network" (Press release). Benchmark Capital. 2006-03-13. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-03-09.
- ^ Metaweb Raises $42.5 Million led by Goldman Sachs and Benchmark Capital Archived 2008-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (company press release)
- ^ Deeper Understanding with Metaweb Archived 2010-07-18 at the Wayback Machine (company press release)