Google LLC may have the world's most popular search engine, but that doesn't mean there isn't room for other companies working on search technology.
The people behind ZincSearch think they've found an area in need of its own kind of search service. The startup designed its Zinc search engine to be easy to incorporate into other systems and software. IT departments and quality assurance engineers can use Zinc to search through application logs, and developers can use it as the search engine inside their apps.
Zinc was designed to replace Elasticsearch, an older log searching technology that requires a lot of overhead, in terms of computing power and storage, the startup said in a news release.
"Almost every company that I have talked to have complained to me about their log storage complexity and cost," Prabhat Sharma, ZincSearch's founder, said a press release. He continued: "ZincSearch provides a modern search platform that alleviates the log search and analytics problem."
The startup, legally known as Zinc Labs Inc., has some new funds to expand its operations. The San Francisco company announced Thursday it's raised $3.6 million in a seed round led by Nexus Venture Partners.
Here's more on ZincSearch's new round and other seed deals from this past week:
Optivolt Labs Inc., San Mateo, $8.2 million: Atlas Innovate led the round for this developer of solar panels designed to generate energy in shady areas. Impact Capital, Pure Ventures and City Light Capital also invested.
Flexspace Inc., New York and San Francisco, $6 million: M13 led the round for this provider of co-working space. R-Squared Ventures and Magenta Venture Partners also invested.
Zinc Labs Inc. (dba ZincSearch), San Francisco, $3.6 million: Nexus Venture Partners led the round for this provider of a search engine for business applications. Dell Technologies Capital, Secure Octane and Cardinia Ventures also invested.
Humanitas Technologies Inc. (dba Humanitas), Palo Alto, $1.5 million: Former Pinterest Inc. executive Francoise Brougher invested in this provider of a service that helps nonprofits organize their finance and operations data and aggregates that data for companies to use to guide their marketing efforts. Jeff Walker, Mark Tercek, Mammoth Biosciences, Cymantix, Google AI, Expedia and Meta also participated.
