Mountain View, Calif. – April 3, 2007 – Kosmix, developer of the industry’s largest Web content categorization engine, today announced the appointment of former AOL Chairman and CEO, Jonathan Miller, to its board of directors. At AOL, Miller was primarily responsible for shifting AOL’s Internet business from the walled garden approach to giving everyone access to free features and content, a move widely hailed as a success in the industry.
Miller joins board members including Theresia Gouw Ranzetta of Accel Partners; Ravi Mhatre of Lightspeed Venture Partners; and Kosmix’s two founders, Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan. The company has raised over $25 million from its two venture partners as well as private investors including Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com and legendary investor Bill Miller of Legg Mason, Inc.
“Kosmix has a vision that is game-changing in the Internet marketplace today,” said Jonathan Miller. “I am impressed with the powerful technology, strong team and the knowledge this company has of its customers and marketplace. Kosmix is where the world is going and I look forward to guiding and building its success.”
Utilizing the familiar search query dynamic, Kosmix’s sophisticated Web categorization engine automatically aggregates and returns the best and most relevant content from the Web to users. Kosmix presents the content in an intelligent and easy-to-understand portal page format, giving users a groundbreaking experience in viewing search results.
“With Jon’s appointment, we can tap into years of experience and expertise in building media and Internet companies,” said Venky Harinarayan, co-founder of Kosmix. “Jon is one of those rare individuals who sees where the Internet is headed and will guide us in transforming the Web into an intelligent platform that is more powerful for billions of users around the globe.”
At AOL, Jonathan built the business to make AOL the third largest Internet advertising business in the world and the second fastest growing behind Google. During his tenure, he increased the profitability of the AOL franchise and generated over $9 billion in free cash. Prior to AOL, Jonathan was CEO and president of USA Information and Services, now InterActiveCorp, where he managed the company’s e-commerce properties including CitySearch, Expedia, Match.com and Ticketmaster. Jonathan also served as CEO and president of USA Broadcasting; managing director of Nickelodeon International; chief executive at Paramount; and vice president of programming and NBA entertainment at the National Basketball Association.
Kosmix is extending traditional search by developing the world’s largest Web content categorization engine, making today’s Web interactions more meaningful and intuitive for users. The engine is built upon breakthrough technologies in algorithmic categorization and large-scale distributed systems. Kosmix has its own portal at www.kosmix.com and its technology powers content on several vertical portals in the areas of health, automotive and video games. For more information, visit www.kosmix.com.
Kosmix Media Contact
Tina Nanez
(650) 938-2300
media@kosmix.com