Quixey's Journey from Funding to Shutdown Explained

Quixey was founded in 2010 with a mission to revolutionize the way people discover and use apps on their mobile devices.

The company received significant funding from investors, with a reported $53 million in funding from investors like Kleiner Perkins and Greylock Partners.

Quixey's app discovery platform was designed to help users find the right apps for their needs, with features like personalized recommendations and a social aspect that allowed users to share and discover new apps.

Despite its promising start, Quixey struggled to gain traction in the competitive app discovery market.

The company's revenue growth was slow, and it failed to scale its business effectively, leading to a decline in user engagement and ultimately, a shutdown in 2014.

Quixey's shutdown was a result of its inability to compete with larger players in the app discovery market, such as Google and Apple.

Quixey's funding journey started with a private launch that brought in $400,000 in seed round funding, led by Eric Schmidt's Innovation Endeavors.

This initial funding marked the beginning of Quixey's growth, with the company closing its Series A round of funding in August 2011, led by U.S. Venture Partners and WI Harper Group, with participation from Webb Investment Network and Innovation Endeavors.

The company's growth was rapid, expanding from six employees to 30 between August 2011 and June 2012, all while preparing for its next major funding round.

Quixey announced its $400,000 seed round funding, led by Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors.

The company closed its Series A round of funding in August 2011, led by U.S. Venture Partners and WI Harper Group.

This funding round also included participation from Webb Investment Network and Innovation Endeavors.

Quixey's partners were a key part of the company's success, and they included Ask.com, a search engine that received 3% of all U.S.-based query volume in 2012.

Ask.com partnered with Quixey to power its app search, starting on December 4, 2012. This partnership helped Quixey expand its reach and capabilities.

Quixey also partnered with Sprint to power app search on two of its products: Sprint Digital Lounge and Sprint Zone.

Quixey was a search engine for apps that aimed to help users find mobile applications based on their functionality and content. It raised $164.2 million from investors like Alibaba and GGV Capital.

The company's main product was a search engine for apps, designed to help users navigate mobile applications as seamlessly as browsing websites. This unique value proposition was a key factor in Quixey's initial success and funding.

Quixey's financial woes were exacerbated by its inability to manage funds effectively and repay debts. The company's high burn rate and poor financial planning strained its resources, leading to financial instability. This instability, coupled with market pressures, ultimately led to the company's shutdown.

Here's a brief timeline of Quixey's major funding rounds:

Quixey shut down in March 2017, largely due to financial instability and intense competition from tech giants like Google and Apple.

Quixey was a search engine for apps that helped users find mobile applications based on their functionality and content. Its unique value proposition lay in deep linking within apps, making navigation as seamless as browsing websites.

Quixey raised $164.2 million from investors like Alibaba and GGV Capital, which shows the confidence investors had in its innovative technology.

The company's main product aimed to revolutionize app navigation by making it as seamless as browsing websites. This unique value proposition initially set Quixey apart in the competitive app search market.

Here's a breakdown of the funding rounds that Quixey received:

Quixey's deep linking technology was a key feature of its product, and it aimed to make navigation as seamless as browsing websites.

Quixey's Challenge was a coding contest that aimed to attract top engineering talent. The contest was designed to be quick and rewarding, offering a $100 prize and a Quixey t-shirt to the winners.

In December 2011, the contest was a huge success, yielding 38 winners. Five of these winners were so impressive that they became serious candidates for three open positions at Quixey.

Quixey has filed an impressive 267 patents, showcasing the company's commitment to innovation.

These patents cover a range of topics, including social networking services, content management systems, machine translation, diagrams, and data management.

One notable patent, titled "Searching and accessing application-independent functionality", was granted on March 2, 2021, after being filed on December 17, 2015.

Quixey has raised over $74 million in venture capital for its natural language app search techniques, which let users easily find relevant applications based on keyword or content type.

The company hopes to go even further with Quixey functional search, designed to grab the information buried deep within apps as well.

Tomer Kagan, Quixey Co-Founder, wants users to be able to search for functions within apps based on stored data, just like they can on the World Wide Web.

Quixey functional search is almost a reality, with a release on the Android OS expected soon, followed by an iOS version.

The company has created a markup language that developers can attach to their apps, which the functional search can crawl and index.

Currently, this link needs to be added manually, but Kagan wants to have the process automated by the end of 2014.

Quixey's goal is to make the future of mobile apps by providing an easy way to search through the content that apps provide.

Providing an easy way to search through app content will aid in convincing users that an app is worth downloading, according to Kagan and company.

Quixey's Ad Tech capabilities are quite impressive. The company's proprietary ad serving technology allows for real-time ad targeting and optimization.

Quixey's platform uses a unique algorithm to analyze user behavior and serve relevant ads. This results in higher click-through rates and better overall ad performance.

The platform's ad serving technology is also highly customizable, allowing advertisers to tailor their ad campaigns to specific demographics and interests. This level of control enables advertisers to reach their target audience more effectively.

Quixey's competitors, such as Branch, offer solutions to deliver experiences and return on investment across various marketing channels like applications, web, email, social media, search, and paid advertisements.

Branch focuses on transforming digital interactions between brands and users, serving the mobile ecosystem with a customer base that includes a range of applications. It was founded in 2014 and is based in Palo Alto, California.

CleverTap, another competitor, provides an all-in-one customer engagement platform that specializes in optimizing customer lifetime value across various business sectors. CleverTap's platform is utilized by businesses in sectors such as e-commerce, financial services, gaming, and subscription services.

Expert Collections are a valuable resource for staying up-to-date on the latest trends and companies in the tech industry. Quixey is included in 1 Expert Collection, specifically Ad Tech, which highlights companies offering tech-enabled marketing and advertising services.

These curated lists are compiled by experts and provide a concise overview of the most important companies in key technology spaces.

Quixey's competitors offer unique solutions that cater to different aspects of the digital marketing landscape. Branch focuses on transforming digital interactions between brands and users, while CleverTap specializes in optimizing customer lifetime value.

Branch serves the mobile ecosystem with a customer base that includes a range of applications, and was founded in 2014 in Palo Alto, California. CleverTap's platform is utilized by businesses in sectors such as e-commerce, financial services, gaming, and subscription services.

AppsFlyer provides mobile marketing analytics and attribution within the digital marketing sector, and was founded in 2011 in San Francisco, California. Its solutions aim to help businesses make data-driven decisions while addressing customer privacy.

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Singular is a company focused on marketing analytics and attribution within the digital advertising industry, and was also founded in 2014 in San Francisco, California. It serves sectors such as agencies, e-commerce, finance, gaming, and travel.

All of these competitors have a strong presence in the digital marketing industry, with a focus on providing valuable insights and solutions to businesses. CleverTap, for example, offers a suite of tools for customer data analytics, personalization, and omnichannel campaign orchestration.

AppsFlyer's solutions are designed to help businesses measure marketing ROI, analyze campaign performance, and protect against ad fraud. Singular's services include mobile attribution, cost aggregation, fraud prevention, and marketing ETL.