AnswerLogic Closes $10 Million Second Round of Funding.Business/Technology Editors WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 20, 2000 CMGI CMGI Commonly Maintained Grounds Infrastructures CMGI College Marketing Group Information (Services) @Ventures and Novak Biddle Invest in Breakthrough Market for Natural Language Question-Answering Solutions on the Web AnswerLogic, the creator of a natural language question-answering solution for Web-enabled businesses, has secured $10 million in second-round financing from CMGI @Ventures, the venture capital affiliate of CMGI, Inc. (Nasdaq:CMGI), and Novak Biddle Venture Partners. AnswerLogic is the second company to receive funding from the $1 billion CMGI @Ventures Technology Fund since it was announced in January. The new round of funding indicates investors' validation of AnswerLogic's mission to shape and lead the emerging answer engine product category. AnswerLogic provides a natural language question-answering solution for e-commerce sites and growing Web-based businesses that want to service their customers faster and more efficiently than ever before. Unlike traditional search engines, the AnswerLogic approach uses information from existing content to retrieve the answers users need, rather than non-contextual links or unwieldy FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) A group of commonly asked questions about a subject along with the answers. Vendors often display them on their Web sites for use as troubleshooting guidelines. documents. "AnswerLogic's advancements in natural language processing Natural language processing Computer analysis and generation of natural language text. The goal is to enable natural languages, such as English, French, or Japanese, to serve either as the medium through which users interact with computer systems such as will break through the next frontier in Web-based customer service solutions," said AnswerLogic founder Jamie Hamilton. "We offer a powerful way for businesses to keep pace with the explosion of online users who are looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. answers to their questions now." "With the maturation of the Internet as both a consumer and business-critical medium, Web publishers, e-commerce providers and users alike are demanding truly helpful and user-friendly customer service solutions," said Lior Yahalomi, Managing Partner with CMGI @Ventures' Technology Fund. "AnswerLogic is the most promising and innovative company serving this need with a next-generation natural language Q&A interface developed by a top team of linguists A linguist in the academic sense is a person who studies linguistics. Ambiguously, the word is sometimes also used to refer to a polyglot (one who knows more than 2 languages), or a grammarian, but these two uses of the word are distinct. and engineers. We see terrific opportunity for the use of their solution throughout the companies in the CMGI network and across the Web." "AnswerLogic's unique innovations in natural language processing address the deficiencies in current online search and retrieval methods," said Jack Biddle, principal of Novak Biddle Venture Partners and AnswerLogic board member. "Businesses need to improve the online self-service experience and reduce customer support costs at the same time. That's precisely what the AnswerLogic solution delivers." AnswerLogic solutions will be deployed in two primary applications: e-support and e-learning. Its uses will range from frontline technical support to providing a supplemental resource for classroom environments. The AnswerLogic solution can offer robust, natural language question-answering solutions to early adopter technology firms and Fortune 500 businesses alike. AnswerLogic takes great pride in having a staff with a diverse range of expertise, from software development engineers to linguists. The company is undergoing rapid growth to meet the demands of hundreds of companies that want more effective online interaction with their customers. "We are executing quickly on our mission to meet the growing support needs of both Web-based businesses and companies that are currently bringing their businesses online," said AnswerLogic president Paul Jacobs Paul Jacob (1960 - ) is an activist, organizer, and advocate for legislative term limits, initiative and referendum rights, and limited government in the United States. He writes a weekly column for Townhall. . "The new funds are slated for product enhancements and aggressively ramping up sales and marketing efforts in preparation for a launch later this year." About AnswerLogic Founded in 1998, AnswerLogic is a Washington DC-based software company that delivers online question-answering solutions for business. In pursuing its vision - to change the way computers interact with people - AnswerLogic has become a leader and first-mover in the answer engine product category. Backed by CMGI @Ventures and Novak Biddle Venture Partners, AnswerLogic is an innovative, emerging growth company committed to raising the bar for future models of online interaction. About CMGI and CMGI @Ventures With more than 65 companies, CMGI, Inc. (Nasdaq:CMGI) represents the largest, most diverse network of Internet companies in the world, including both CMGI operating companies operating company A business that engages in transactions with outsiders. and synergistic investments made through its venture capital affiliate, CMGI @Ventures. CMGI leverages the technologies, content and market reach of its extended family of companies to foster rapid growth and industry leadership across its network and the larger Internet Economy The Internet Economy refers to conducting business through markets whose infrastructure is based on the Internet and World-Wide Web. An Internet economy differs from a traditional economy in a number of ways, including: communication, market segmentation, distribution costs, and price. . Compaq, Intel, Microsoft, Pacific Century CyberWorks and Sumitomo hold minority positions in CMGI. CMGI's majority-owned operating companies include Engage Technologies (Nasdaq:ENGA), NaviSite (Nasdaq:NAVI NAVI Nuclear Arms Verification Instrument NAVI New Analog Video Interface ), 1ClickBrands, 1stUp.com, Activate.net, AdForce, Adsmart, AltaVista, CMGI Solutions, Equilibrium, Flycast, iCAST, MyWay.com, NaviNet, SalesLink, Tribal Voice
CMGI's corporate headquarters is at 100 Brickstone Square, Andover, MA 01810. CMGI @Ventures has offices there as well as at 3000 Alpine Road, Menlo Park Menlo Park. 1 Residential city (1990 pop. 28,040), San Mateo co., W Calif.; inc. 1874. Electronic equipment and aerospace products are manufactured in the city. Menlo College and a Stanford Univ. research institute are there. 2 Uninc. , CA 94028. For additional information, see http://www.cmgi.com and http://www.ventures.com. About Novak Biddle Novak Biddle Venture Partners was established in 1997 to provide equity financing Equity Financing The act of raising money for company activities by selling common or preferred stock to individual or institutional investors. In return for the money paid, shareholders receive ownership interests in the corporation. and assistance to the management of early stage information technology companies in the mid-Atlantic region. Having participated in AnswerLogic's first round of funding in 1999, Novak Biddle Venture Partners seeks situations where the combination of ideas, dollars, experience, and relationships can create long term, sustainable value Sustainable Value Sustainable Value is an approach to measure and manage sustainability performance. The concept was developed by researchers who are working today for Queen's University Belfast . Novak Biddle Venture Partners has funded 20 companies including Lifeminders, Blackboard, Telogy Networks, and Entevo. |
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