24th Jan 2008
Ground-breaking Internet search company gains experienced chairman.
Serial entrepreneur William Reeve has joined True Knowledge Ltd as its non-executive Chairman. The groundbreaking Internet search technology company was recently highlighted by analysts as a company to watch as a potential acquisition target.
Library House, venture analysts and providers of business intelligence to the investment community, wrote: “With applications for beta testers numbering in the tens of thousands, considerable press coverage and the company looking to close a substantial venture capital round… 2008 is lining up to be an exciting year for True Knowledge.”
William Reeve is the co-founder of Internet-based Fletcher Research and LOVEFiLM.com, Europe’s largest online DVD rental service. He has over ten years experience in developing successful businesses that exploit the potential of the Internet and sees huge potential in the True Knowledge technology.
“I’m an occasional angel investor and I was first introduced to True Knowledge by Octopus Ventures,” said William Reeve. “They thought that True Knowledge has a promising technology, and that I would bring valuable experience and expertise to the board.
“It is clear to me that True Knowledge’s search offering is uniquely powerful. It has a radically different approach to solving an intractable problem and is already attracting considerable interest from technologists and potential end users.
“I have gained valuable experience of fundraising for Internet-technology start-ups and also of growing successful online services in both the business and consumer space and I am excited about the opportunities that True Knowledge presents.”
Based in Cambridge, UK, True Knowledge’s product is capable of the intelligent answering of questions posed on any topic and will dramatically improve the quality and accuracy of results returned from user queries.
Just like a good classroom teacher, it will provide a succinct answer to the question, in a manner that is easily understood, with a number of suggested references for further reading.
While not yet available to the general public, True Knowledge’s revolutionary approach already looks set to be a disruptive technology in the highly competitive Internet search space. True Knowledge is currently beta testing its technology with ‘expert users’ who are adding facts and interrogating the knowledge-base to retrieve information. There is already a waiting list of many thousands of volunteers, who have registered to be considered as beta testers and gain a preview of what the technology has to offer.
In addition to its own web site, True Knowledge offers a suite of API services that will allow third-party websites to interact with the service to gain information. This will allow ‘mash ups’ between other content and True Knowledge’s databases, a technique that has driven the popularity of many ‘Web 2.0′ sites.
Founder and CEO of True Knowledge, William Tunstall-Pedoe, is enthusiastic about Reeve’s appointment. “William is a really effective person to work with and knows the business when it comes to Internet services and raising finance. We’re very lucky to have him on board and I am delighted to be working with him.”
William Reeve co-founded Fletcher Research in 1997, which became the UK’s leading Internet research firm before being acquired by Forrester Research in 1999. In 2003, he co-founded ScreenSelect.co.uk, which rapidly became the UK’s leading online DVD rental business. Backed by Index Ventures, Benchmark Capital, and DFJ Esprit, it subsequently merged with LOVEFiLM in mid 2006 and is now the clear European market-leading with operations in five countries; Reeve remains its Chief Operating Officer. He is a former McKinsey consultant and has a first class degree from Oxford University.
