Kosmix Search Raises $20 Million in Funding in Tough Economy

The search solution Kosmix has raised $20 million in a funding round led by TimeWarner, the company announced today--an impressive feat in today's economic climate. Andy interviewed Kosmix Co-founder Anand Rajaraman in New York earlier this year, and I republished the interview here. 

It seems impossible for any search start-up to raise that kind of money when there's already a Google, but Kosmix isn't a direct competitor with the search giant. Instead of producing results for a highly specific search, Kosmix organizes videos (powered by Truveo), audio, and articles on a magazine-style page for users with a more general topic in mind.

"If you know exactly what you're looking for, if you're looking to find some information, you should go to a search engine. If you kind of want to explore more broadly, you should go to Kosmix," Rajaraman says in the segment. 

Kosmix also introduced the beta version of its site today. Here's the take on this development by Venture Beat's Anthony Ha.  Here's a story from the BBC.

--Kelsey Blodget, Associate Producer