Metaweb
Former American data management company
title: "Metaweb" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["companies-based-in-san-francisco", "online-databases", "semantic-web-companies", "software-companies-established-in-2005", "google-acquisitions", "software-companies-disestablished-in-2016", "2010-mergers-and-acquisitions", "2005-establishments-in-california", "2016-disestablishments-in-california", "american-companies-established-in-2005", "american-companies-disestablished-in-2016"] description: "Former American data management company" topic_path: "technology/databases" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaweb" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Former American data management company ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Metaweb Technologies, Inc. |
| logo | Metaweb Logo.jpg |
| logo_size | 150px |
| type | Private |
| foundation | |
| fate | acquired by Google |
| in July 2010 | |
| founder | Veda Hlubinka-Cook, |
| Danny Hillis, | |
| John Giannandrea | |
| location_city | San Francisco, California |
| location_country | United States |
| key_people | Kurt Bollacker |
| (Chief scientist) | |
| Danny Hillis (Chairman) | |
| Thomas Layton (CEO) | |
| Veda Hlubinka-Cook | |
| EVP, product development | |
| John Giannandrea (CTO) | |
| industry | Data management |
| products | Freebase — an online database |
| homepage | |
| :: |
::callout[type=note] the company Metaweb Technologies ::
| name = Metaweb Technologies, Inc. | logo = Metaweb Logo.jpg | logo_size = 150px | type = Private | foundation = | fate = acquired by Google in July 2010 | founder = Veda Hlubinka-Cook, Danny Hillis, John Giannandrea | location_city = San Francisco, California | location_country = United States | location = | key_people = Kurt Bollacker (Chief scientist) Danny Hillis (Chairman) Thomas Layton (CEO) Veda Hlubinka-Cook EVP, product development John Giannandrea (CTO) | industry = Data management | products = Freebase — an online database | num_employees = | homepage =
Metaweb Technologies, Inc. was a San Franciscobased company that developed Freebase, described as an "open, shared database of the world's knowledge". The company was co-founded by Danny Hillis, Veda Hlubinka-Cook and John Giannandrea in 2005.{{cite news | title = Start-Up Aims for Database to Automate Web Searching | work = The New York Times | date = 2007-03-09 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/09/technology/09data.html?ex=1331096400&en=a87d4f61e6052888&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss | accessdate = 2008-03-26 | first = John | last = Markoff | archive-date = 2018-04-17 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180417105227/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/09/technology/09data.html?ex=1331096400&en=a87d4f61e6052888&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss | url-status = live
Metaweb was acquired by Google in 2010. Google shut down Freebase in 2016, transferring some of the data that met the required notability criteria to Wikidata.
Funding
On March 14, 2006, Metaweb received $15 million in funding. Investors included Benchmark Capital, Millennium Technology Ventures, and Omidyar Network.{{cite press release |publisher=Benchmark Capital |date=2006-03-13 |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-14-2006/0004319555 |format= |title=Metaweb Technologies, Inc. Receives $15 Million of Financing From Benchmark Capital, Millennium Technology Ventures and Omidyar Network |accessdate=2007-03-09 |archive-date=2007-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929135511/https://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=%2Fwww%2Fstory%2F03-14-2006%2F0004319555 |url-status=live
Kevin Harvey of Benchmark Capital was a member of Metaweb's board of directors.
Acquisition
On July 16, 2010, Google acquired Metaweb for an undisclosed sum.
References
References
- [https://www.metaweb.com/press/062707.html Metaweb announces hiring of Thomas Layton, CEO] {{webarchive. link. (2008-02-20)
- (2010-07-16). "Metaweb joins Google". Metaweb.
- (11 April 2016). "From Freebase to Wikidata: The Great Migration".
- Douglas, Jason. (December 16, 2014). "Announcement: From Freebase to Wikidata". Google Groups.
- (2 May 2016). "So long and thanks for all the data!".
- [https://www.metaweb.com/press/011508.html Metaweb Raises $42.5 Million led by Goldman Sachs and Benchmark Capital] {{webarchive. link. (2008-03-04 (company press release))
- [https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/deeper-understanding-with-metaweb.html Deeper Understanding with Metaweb] {{Webarchive. link. (2010-07-18 (company press release))
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::