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Shopping service MySimon draws funding

The company, which competes with Amazon and others to provide comparison-shopping data, receives $21 million in a fourth venture round.

Jan. 2, 2002 4:43 p.m. PT

Online comparison shopping service MySimon announced today that it had received $21 million in its fourth round of financing.

MySimon chief executive Josh Goldman said the company, which competes with similar services provided by Amazon.com and portals such as Yahoo and Excite, received $10 million each from Brentwood Venture Capital and The Sprout Group, as well as $1 million from Marquette Venture Partners.

Although the industry has already seen significant consolidation--Amazon bought Junglee last year and Excite bought NetBot and its Jango technology in 1997--Goldman said MySimon planned to stay independent. Goldman said his company lists far more merchants than Amazon's service. Because MySimon does not charge merchants for listings, it can remain unbiased, he added.

"We have a significant advantage by staying independent," Goldman said.

Santa Clara-based MySimon was started about a year ago and launched its Web site last October. Goldman said the private company, which employs 50, gains the majority of its revenues by allowing merchants to place their logo or messages next to shopping bot results.