Nara Picks up $3 Million in New Funding to Support Its Rapid Rate of Expansion

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nara Logics Inc., a company that solves the problem of Web search by crafting a more personalized Web, today announced an additional $3 million in funding bringing its total funding this year to $7 million. Account Management, LLC (AMC), a 50-year-old investment advisor in Boston, led this recent round as well as the company’s initial round of funding. The company is using the new funds to extend the Nara platform for both Web and Mobile and to continue hiring stellar talent. Nara also added several new features to its recently launched Nara Mobile app, available for free at App Store, Google Play and Nara Web available at nara.me.

“Nara Logics has opened new vistas that will put Big Data at the beck and call of consumers and businesses, as we now begin to transform searching into finding.”

“We feel fortunate to participate in the coming together of artificial intelligence and neural networks as the next generation of Internet search engines,” said Peter de Roetth, co-founder of AMC. “Nara Logics has opened new vistas that will put Big Data at the beck and call of consumers and businesses, as we now begin to transform searching into finding.”

Research shows that the average American will spend nearly two decades of their waking life tangled in the World Wide Web. And this problem is only growing.

“Nara’s vision is to build a more personal, actionable and liberating Web to achieve a life well found,” said Thomas Copeman, chief executive officer and founder of Nara. “We really appreciate that our investors are confident in our vision and accomplishments. This additional funding will accelerate our North American footprint, allow us to grow into new markets, and extend into other consumer categories. We will also use these funds to further develop and scale the Nara Neural Network.”

Nara Funding and Momentum

Peter de Roetth and other investors have contributed an additional $3 million, growing Nara’s total funding amount in 2012 to $7 million. Nara is a collective of neuroscientists from MIT, artists, computer scientists, astrophysicists, business leaders and tech industry veterans. In the past year, Nara nearly tripled the number of its employees.

Nara’s innovative technology platform currently analyzes over 250,000 restaurants, coffee shops, bars and cafes in 25 top cities in the U.S. and Canada. The Nara Neural Network is comprised of many millions of connections among these venues. With its brain-like algorithm, Nara is able to simplify this complex map into personalized recommendations.

On November 13, 2012, Nara announced its new, free Nara Mobile app for iPhone and Android that minimizes time searching and helps people discover new dining experiences that are tailored to their tastes. Through active use of the platform, Nara’s app learns a person’s restaurant preferences to create their unique Digital DNA^TM and suggests other restaurants tailored to their tastes. In addition, Nara expanded its personalized Web platform from eight to 25 cities across the U.S. and Canada from New York City to San Francisco to Toronto.

In the last month, Nara’s site traffic has nearly doubled, while recent page views are growing at an even higher rate. Since launching just one month ago, Nara Mobile continues to see a strong increase in downloads and user activity.

The Nara Neural Network Expands and Adds New Features to Mobile App and Web

“We have discovered a new pattern for how information can be automatically organized and personalized for people across the Internet,” said Dr. Nathan Wilson, chief technology officer of Nara. “We are now deploying massively parallel neural networks into the cloud to do this at Web scale and bring order to a growing number of categories. It is exciting to watch the pace of this process quickening and we are expanding way beyond restaurants as we encounter new categories and weave connections across websites. We see a bright future in the automated personalization of the entire Internet.”

Launching first on Nara Web, the new “Why?” button explains why Nara’s Neural Network has made a particular restaurant recommendation based on a user’s unique Digital DNA. Nara users have been curious about the science behind the platform, so “Why?” offers people more context.

In addition, Nara added these three new features to both Nara Mobile and Web including:

1. Ability to see restaurant menus on the Merchant Page

2. Integrated Foursquare tips on the Merchant Page

3. New optimized viewing for iPhone 5 users

About Nara

Founded in 2010, Nara Logics Inc. solves the problem of Web searching through a next-generation personal Internet platform that automates, personalizes, and curates the Web for people. Based in Cambridge, Mass., Nara’s mission is to build a more personal, actionable and liberating Web to achieve a life well found. Founded by Thomas Copeman, Nara has raised $7 million to date led by Peter de Roetth of Account Management, LLC. Find Nara online at: www.nara.me and on social channels at: https://twitter.com/Nara__me and www.facebook.com/pages/Narame/297994220245669.