Company: Kayak.com
Description: Travel search engine
Competitors: Mobissimo, SideStep, Farechase
Location: Norwalk, Conn.
Amount Raised: $11.5 million
Round: Third
Date Announced: 5/22/06
VC Firms: Accel Partners, General Catalyst Partners, Sequoia Capital, America Online
VC Directors: Harry Nelis, Joel Cutler
Quick Take: I've been a big believer in vertical search engines and Kayak.com is one of the leaders in the segment. The desire by consumers to find specialized information about a potential purchase played out nicely for Shopping.com and Shopzilla and there's no reason to think the same result is not in store for Kayak.com. Company CTO Paul English said Kayak.com could have achieved a valuation in this round in excess of $200 million but took less in exchange for Accel's European contacts. Despite the high valuation and steep competition from Yahoo and other startups, Kayak.com's experienced management team will drive continued growth through international expansion and increased marketing.

Technology (1 out of 10): 4
Market: 6
Management: 8
Chances for IPO: 5
Overall VC Rating: 7

For more on Kayak.com's funding, see:
The Deal
Kayak.com Press Release
Search Engine Watch

Technorati tags: kayak.com, accelpartners, travel, vc, venture+capital