July 2nd, 2008
Does True Knowledge see value in distance from the bubble?
The flurry of attention around yesterday’s Microsoft/ Powerset news set me thinking once more about UK-based True Knowledge, which has been compared with Microsoft’s latest acquisition.
TechCrunch UK’s Mike Butcher reported last month that nameless venture capital firms were valuing True Knowledge at about £20million ($40million), and circling to invest. My post-Powerset thoughts were…
- what is the balance between validation on the back of Microsoft interest in the space, and a reduced valuation on the back of the disappointing price Microsoft (allegedly around $100million) paid? Does the Powerset/Microsoft deal increase or decrease True Knowledge’s notional valuation in the eyes of the market?
- although UK based, is True Knowledge forced to look to the United States to meet the ambitions Mike attributes to them with “The idea is to use a large series A round to accelerate the startup to almost Google-like recognition levels in about two years”? With European investing powerhouses like 3i leaving the early-stage investment space, where do European startups have to look for that ‘large series A round’?
Thoughts to ponder, as the blogosphere continues to chatter about Powerset; a company that may well have been acquired more for the talent than for the product.
Paul Miller provides consultancy and analysis services at the interface between the worlds of Cloud Computing and the Semantic Web. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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