Challenging Google LLC in its core business — Internet search — may seem like a fool's errand. But the founder of upstart search provider You.com thinks he's figured out just the way to do it.
The Palo Alto startup last week announced the launch of YouCode, a service designed to help software developers quickly find snippets of code in particular programming languages. The launch is part of an effort by the company to focus its attention specifically on programmers.
That may seem like a relatively small niche, but it's an important one, Richard Socher, You.com's founder and CEO, told the Business Journal. Already about a quarter of You.com's users are developers, he said. And coders spend lots of time each day searching for answers to programming questions, he said.
It's a "useful thing for most startups to have a niche and have a core persona in mind," Socher said.
You.com's focus on programmers is about more than just its present user base. A growing number of people are becoming developers or are being asked to code as part of their jobs, so that audience is likely to grow significantly, Socher said.
And developers are particularly demanding when it comes to search results. Optimizing for their needs will force the company to prioritize speed, accuracy and relevance, which will prompt it to create a better search engine in general.
"If you satisfy the needs of developers, you're more likely to have a relevant product for everyone," he said.
Still, You.com has a tough road ahead of it. Google has about 92% of the search market worldwide, according to Statcounter, which tracks Web usage. And the industry is littered with would-be competitors, including well-financed ones like Microsoft's Bing search engine, that have been trounced by Google.
On a video call, Socher demonstrated how YouCode works. He typed a query into You.com's main search engine, which yielded a list of results. In addition to the main search results, a window popped up in the right, showing a range of coding options in Python.
YouCode searches coding repositories including GitHub and Stack Overflow for coding snippets but can also generate certain code on the fly, TechCrunch reported.
You.com has $25 million in new cash
The startup's already seen some early success with YouCode. After launching the the service, the company, which is legally known as SuSea Inc., has seen a surge in usage, Socher said.
You.com, which initially tried to distinguish its search service by emphasizing privacy, hasn't yet started trying to make money off it. The company may eventually charge developers to connect their software to its service or to access its code generation feature, according to TechCrunch.
The company has some new cash to develop those kinds of premium services. In addition to launching YouCode, the company announced last week it's raised $25 million in a Series A deal led by Radical Ventures. Time Ventures, Breyer Capital, Norwest Venture Partners and Day One Ventures also participated in the round, which came about eight months after You.com raised $20 million in a seed round.
The startup's new funding round comes as venture firms have been scaling back their investments amid an uncertain economy, high inflation and rising interest rates.
Radical Ventures continues to invest, despite the economic climate, and is betting on companies like You.com that have "category-defining" technologies, said firm partner Tomi Poutanen.
"We're looking to companies like You.com to emerge from this current period of disruption as members of a new cohort of iconic technology brands forged in uncertain times," Poutanen said.
You.com's focus on helping users easily find relevant information for their queries is helping it quickly attract and retain users, said Masha Bucher, a general partner at Day One Ventures, which also invested in the startup's seed round.
"We couldn't resist doubling down on this investment," Bucher said.
