Infonautics Explained

Infonautics
Type:Internet Services
Products:Digital Library
Foundation:1992
Location:Wayne, Pennsylvania, US
Fate:Acquired by Tucows

Infonautics was an information services company, founded in 1992 by Marvin Weinberger,[1] Lawrence Husick, and Josh Kopelman,[2] [3] and had its headquarters in Wayne, Pennsylvania, United States.[4] It was a spin-out from Telebase, Inc., which retained a minority position in the company. The company's executives included Van Morris (CEO), Ram Mohan (COO/CTO),[5] Frederica O'Brien (CFO), and Gerard Lewis (General Counsel). Israel J. Melman was also a co-founder, a mentor to Marvin Weinberger and served on the boards of both Telebase and Infonautics, where he was also Chairman of the Board.

History

In 1990, Telebase founder Weinberger and outside counsel Husick conceived of Homework Helper, a $10 per month unlimited research service having a large multimedia database and a natural language user interface. Working with Brewster Kahle, a protocol was developed to run on the Thinking Machines massively parallel computer system, but in late early 1991, Conquest Software demonstrated its semantic search engine and a change in direction ensued. Hardware support was provided by Tandem Computers. Early work on the multimedia database system yielded multiple U.S. patents.

In 1996, the company was listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange.[6] It was delisted in 2001.[7] [8]

In 2001, Tucows acquired Infonautics through a business tactic called "reverse takeover". Initially, Infonautics purchased Tucows and then changed its own name to Tucows.[9] On August 26, 2002, Tucows sold eLibrary and Encyclopedia.com to HighBeam Research.

The company created online services Homework Helper on Prodigy,[10] [11] Encyclopedia.com,[12] Electric Library,[13] and CompanySleuth.[14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]

In 2003, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the company was "one of the first Internet companies in the Philadelphia area"[20] [21] [22] [23] [24]

Notes and References

  1. News: Venturef0rth acquired by American Certified CEO Marvin Weinberger – Technical.ly Philly. 2014-10-14. Technical.ly Philly. 2017-10-04. en-US.
  2. News: ThinkFest Snapshot: Josh Kopelman News Philadelphia Magazine. 2013-11-04. Philadelphia Magazine. 2017-10-04. en-US.
  3. Web site: Infonautics' legacy lives on . bizjournals.com. 2017-10-04.
  4. Web site: Infonautics name will disappear in buyout The struggling Internet company, whose stock has dipped to 66 cents, will be purchased by a Toronto firm.. 2001-03-29. Philly.com. 2016-09-05.
  5. Web site: Company Sleuth Uncovers Amazon and Microsoft Patents. Inc.. Infonautics. prnewswire.com. en. 2017-03-24.
  6. Web site: Online Firm's Stock Slips After Its Opening . 3 September 2016. Reid Kanaley. 6 May 1996.
  7. Web site: Nasdaq sends warning to Infonautics about delisting. Philadelphia Business Journal. 2016-09-05.
  8. Web site: Infonautics Moves to OTC Bulletin Board; Day-to-Day Operations and Pending Merger Unaffected. Infonautics, Inc.. Press Release. 2016-09-05.
  9. Paula J. Hane, "Tucows Sells Two Former Infonautics Services", Information Today, August 26, 2002.
  10. News: An On Line Library For Your Little Prodigy. Bloomberg.com. 14 March 1994 . 2016-09-06.
  11. News: Welcome the Cyber-Tutor. Leimbach. Dulcie. 1995-05-04. The New York Times. 0362-4331. 2016-09-05.
  12. Web site: Infonautics Launches Encyclopedia.Com. March 1998. Information Today. 2016-09-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20160916161302/https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-20341277/infonautics-launches-encyclopedia-com. dead.
  13. Web site: Infonautics Moves Electric Library To Joint Venture The Company Will Get $22 Million And A 27 Percent Stake In The Venture. Bell & Howell Will Own The Remainder.. Philadelphia Inquirer. 2016-09-05.
  14. News: Company Sleuth Site Is Generating Lots of Buzz, Misinformation Online. Lee. Carrie. 1998-11-16. Wall Street Journal. 0099-9660. 2016-09-05.
  15. Web site: Infonautics adds to research site. Kane. Margaret. 1999-01-04. ZDNet. 2016-09-06.
  16. Web site: Infonautics' new product finds buzz 11-5-98. CBS MarketWatch. 2016-09-05.
  17. News: Tiny Infonautics Gets Big Boost From News of a Hot New Site. 1998-11-14. Dow Jones Newswires via Wall Street Journal. 0099-9660. 2016-09-05.
  18. Web site: Tucows Sells Two Former Infonautics Services. Hane. Paula J.. 2002-08-26. infotoday.com. en-US. 2016-09-05.
  19. Web site: The skinny on Infonautics. Malik. Om. 1999-07-09. Forbes. 2016-09-05.
  20. Web site: Infonautics' legacy lives on. Philadelphia Business Journal. 2016-09-07.
  21. Web site: Infonautics' players: What are they up to?. Philadelphia Business Journal. 2016-09-05.
  22. Web site: Philly: Novotorium & Seed Philly Announce Entrepreneur Summercamp. Kyle. seriousstartups.com. June 2012 . 2016-09-07. "We’ve seen tremendous collaboration, innovation and camaraderie through the years by the people who were part of Infonautics," Krupit said. "We are now experiencing a resurgence of the entrepreneurial community in Philadelphia, so the timing is excellent to help a new wave of entrepreneurs learn from pioneers and see how and how much we have already achieved in our region, and the possibilities for the future.".
  23. Web site: Infonautics team returns to talk startups during Entrepreneur Summer Camp [EVENTS] - Technical.ly Philly]. 2012-06-11. technical.ly. en-US. 2016-09-07. ... bringing back some of the old Infonautics team for a discussion of what happened to the dot-com era Wayne-based startup that rolled out more talent than the old Montreal Expos farm system.
  24. Web site: Infonautics: legendary 90s-era Wayne infotech IPO was 'just too early'. 2012-06-13. technical.ly. en-US. 2016-09-07. Infonautics is legend in Philadelphia’s investment and entrepreneurial communities.

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