Inktomi expands to Europe

In yet another sign that search engine company Inktomi is becoming a behind-the-scenes powerhouse, the company today announced it is launching a European division and it has completed a $12 million round of financing.

The European arm, based in London, will provide its search engine and network cache software to local Internet service providers, telecommunications companies, and backbone carriers.

While other search engine companies such as Yahoo and Excite are competing to become the most popular search sites on the Web, Inktomi is focusing on supplying its technology to larger companies.

For instance, Inktomi recently struck a major deal with software giant Microsoft to design a search engine for Microsoft's new home page initiative, code named Microsoft Start.

It also has forged partnerships with Intel and Sun Microsystems.

Today's move to expand in Europe is in preparation for an expected boom in European Internet growth. Europe is generally considered to be a year or two behind the United States in adoption rates to the Internet. Likewise, service providers around the globe are preparing for the same kind of exponential growth rates in Europe that they have seen in the United States.

The company's European operations will be headquartered in Surrey, England. It initially will target markets in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Scandinavia.

In a separate announcement, Inktomi said it has secured $12 million in its latest round of financing. The money will be used for general corporate purposes as well as expanding sales and marketing, according to the company.