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Imandi makes a killing

Nitish S Rele

Imandi.com, a reverse marketplace, has secured $ 20 million in its second round of venture capital funding.

Vulcan Ventures Inc, the investment organisation of Paul G Allen and Go2Net, one of the Internet's leading networks, leads the group.

"We're super excited to have Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures invest in this second round," said Raghav Kher, Imandi.com president and CEO. "The value of a Vulcan investment goes far beyond the dollars. Their expertise with e-commerce makes them a great partner."

Other financiers of the Redmond, Washington dot.com include Menlo Ventures (backers of Hotmail, InfoSeek, UUNet and Eve.com), Bertelsmann Ventures (NuvoMedia, ExpertCity, ONElist), Madrona Investment Group (Amazon.com, HomeGrocer.com, Nordstrom.com), and Northwest Venture Associates (AdRelevance, Packet Engines, Netpodium).

Imandi.com's initial $ 15 million round closed in October 1999. Since then, the firm has expanded its national network to include more than 200,000 local merchants offering more than 350 different products and services. It has also formed strategic partnerships with such leading Internet properties as Microsoft's bCentral, AOL's Digital City, ePinions, iShip and eHow.

"Dot.coms are disappearing every day," said Microsoft alumni Kher, who co-founded Imandi.com with Eric Johnson. "Funding from a marquee investor like Vulcan is a incredible vote of confidence for our business model and our company."

Marketplaces work best when there are more buyers and sellers, says Kher. "We're going to use this funding to aggressively increase the scale on both these dimensions."

Imandi.com consumers detail their needs for everything from household services to plate tickets or collectibles, and affiliated merchants compete to deliver products and services tailored to their specifications.

Here's how the dot.com works: First, you log onto www.imandi.com and register. You then post what you need -- airplane tickets, sports memorabilia, office space or remodelling services -- and select which retailers you would like to have compete for your business. Affiliated retailers with customer ratings and preferences will respond with bids. You review the bids anonymously and select a retailer.

EARLIER FEATURE:
Irresistible force

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