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September 28, 2006
VCs Back Qype's Web 2.0 Local Search Play
Qype, a Hamburg, Germany-based local online search startup, wrote in to say that it has raised a first round from Advent Venture Partners and Partech International, as well as angel investors. The size of the round was undisclosed but it is meant to be enough to roll out across Europe.
Since Qype is one of the new breed of tightly run web startups, the hopes that one funding round might suffice to cover Europe may be more than wishful thinking.
Founded in early 2006 by Stephan Uhrenbacher, who established travelchannel.de and also had senior positions at lastminute.com and online pharmacy, DocMorris, Qype launched in April. Since then we've written about it a couple of times, mainly because of its low-budget approach to developing an Web-based online directories service. We recommend its corporate blog for Web entrepreneurs.
Alexa Offers An Indication Of How Qype Compares To Incumbent GoYellow, Which Has Taken A More Expensive Marketing Route
Qype recently added a Boolean-like search feature. Some typical searches shown here.
• “Nichtraucher + Restaurant” findet 30 Empfehlungen
• “Lecker + Pizza” findet 80 Beiträge
• “zuverlässig + Werkstatt” leider nur zehn.
• “Kinder + Sonne” findet fast 50 Empfehlungen.
• “günstig + Hotel” findet 30 Empfehlungen
The firm’s blog explains how it works, pointing out that there are 80 recommendations for Tasty and Pizza, 50 recommendations of place to enjoy the outdoors with your kids, and 30 tips on cheap hotesl and no-smoking restaurants. But there are only 10 tips on reliable auto repair shops, which means either there are not the many mechanics that people would recommend, or they don’t want to put it out there who the good ones are for fear of never being able to get an appointment.
Then again it could also mean that it never occurred to Qype users to write about the topic.
Read - The New Tightness of Euro Founders (a:c euro)
Read- Qype and Wiki Receive Early Stage Attention (a:c euro)
Posted on September 28, 2006 09:06 AM | Posted to Media | News And Updates | Venture Capital | Permalink
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