Radar Networks

Radar Networks was a San Francisco-based technology company established in 2003 by web entrepreneur Nova Spivack and artificial-intelligence researcher Kristinn R. Thórisson. The company focused on bringing ideas associated with the Semantic Web to a broader consumer audience. Rather than limiting semantic technologies to specialist research, enterprise knowledge-management systems, or developer tools, Radar Networks sought to build applications that could organize information and relationships in ways that were more meaningful to ordinary web users. The company’s central and only publicly released product was Twine. Twine was presented as an online social web service that used semantic technologies to help users collect, organize, discover, and share information. Its development reflected the early Web 2.0 period, when startups were experimenting with social services, user-generated content, recommendation systems, and more intelligent methods for connecting web information. Twine was opened to the public on October 21, 2008, making it Radar Networks’ principal public expression of its technology strategy. Radar Networks’ early leadership combined entrepreneurial and artificial-intelligence expertise. Spivack founded the company and remained closely associated with its strategic direction. Thórisson was a co-founder and served as chief technology officer until 2004, when he joined Reykjavik University. Jim Wissner subsequently joined the company and became its chief architect. This leadership structure reflected Radar Networks’ emphasis on research-oriented software architecture and semantic information processing. The company obtained additional venture financing in February 2008 through a Series B round led by Velocity Interactive Group, Vulcan Capital, and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. The available reference material does not specify the amount raised, so no financial figure is included here. The financing supported the company during the period leading up to Twine’s public launch. Radar Networks was acquired by Seattle-based Evri Inc. on March 11, 2010. The acquisition ended Radar Networks as an independent company. Twine was discontinued on May 14, 2010, and its former web address redirected visitors to evri.com. Evri later shut down its commercial offerings, including evri.com, after laying off much of its staff in October 2012. Radar Networks is therefore best understood as a defunct early Semantic Web startup whose public legacy rests primarily on Twine and on its attempt to make semantic information technologies accessible through a consumer-oriented social service.

Radar Networks was founded in 2003 in San Francisco by Nova Spivack and Kristinn R. Thórisson. Its purpose was to develop practical Semantic Web applications for a general audience. The Semantic Web concept, associated with adding machine-readable meaning and relationships to online information, had largely been discussed in technical and research settings. Radar Networks attempted to turn that approach into a consumer-facing web product. The company’s founding team brought together internet entrepreneurship and artificial-intelligence research. Spivack served as the principal entrepreneurial founder, while Thórisson contributed research and technical expertise. Thórisson was the company’s chief technology officer until 2004, when he left to join Reykjavik University. Jim Wissner later joined Radar Networks and became its chief architect, helping lead the technical design of the company’s software. Radar Networks’ only publicly released product was Twine. Twine was an online social web service designed around semantic organization of information. It allowed users to engage with and share web content while applying technologies intended to identify relationships, topics, and meaning within information. The service represented Radar Networks’ effort to make semantic technologies useful outside specialist developer and research communities. In February 2008, Radar Networks raised a Series B venture round led by Velocity Interactive Group, Vulcan Capital, and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. The available source identifies the participating investors but does not provide the financing amount. The round came during the company’s transition from technology development toward a public product launch. Twine opened to the public on October 21, 2008. Its launch placed Radar Networks within the wider wave of social-web companies that were building online services around user participation, information sharing, and networked discovery. Twine was the company’s sole public product and the main vehicle through which its Semantic Web ambitions were presented to users. Radar Networks was acquired by Evri Inc. on March 11, 2010. Evri was based in Seattle, and the transaction brought Radar Networks under new ownership. The independent Radar Networks operation did not continue as a standalone business. On May 14, 2010, Twine was shut down and its web address redirected to evri.com. The subsequent closure of Evri’s own commercial services further limited the lifespan of the combined product history. In October 2012, Evri laid off much of its staff and shut down its commercial offerings, including evri.com. No later independent operations, products, or corporate activity for Radar Networks are identified in the reference material. The company is consequently classified as defunct. Its historical significance lies in its early attempt to commercialize Semantic Web ideas through a social, consumer-oriented service rather than in a continuing product portfolio.

• 2012

  Evri ends its commercial services

  [1]Radar Networksen.wikipedia.org

  Evri lays off much of its staff and closes commercial offerings including evri.com.

• 2010

  Acquisition by Evri

  [1]Radar Networksen.wikipedia.org

  Evri Inc. acquires Radar Networks on March 11.

• 2010

  Twine shuts down

  [1]Radar Networksen.wikipedia.org

  Twine is discontinued on May 14 and its web address redirects to evri.com.

• 2008

  Series B financing

  [1]Radar Networksen.wikipedia.org

  Radar Networks raises a Series B venture round led by Velocity Interactive Group, Vulcan Capital, and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

• 2008

  Twine launches publicly

  [1]Radar Networksen.wikipedia.org

  Twine becomes available to the public on October 21 as Radar Networks’ only publicly released product.

• 2004

  Thórisson leaves the CTO role

  [1]Radar Networksen.wikipedia.org

  Co-founder Kristinn R. Thórisson ends his tenure as chief technology officer and joins Reykjavik University.

• 2003

  Radar Networks is founded

  [1]Radar Networksen.wikipedia.org

  Nova Spivack and Kristinn R. Thórisson establish Radar Networks in San Francisco to develop Semantic Web applications for general users.

An early Semantic Web startup focused on translating machine-readable information technologies into consumer-facing social and information-discovery applications.

• Semantic Web social service · 2008

  Twine

  Twine was Radar Networks’ only publicly released product. It was an online social web service built around the company’s goal of making Semantic Web techniques useful to ordinary users. The service focused on organizing, connecting, discovering, and sharing information through relationships and meaning represented in online content. Twine opened publicly on October 21, 2008, and was discontinued on May 14, 2010, following Evri’s acquisition of Radar Networks.

• 2010

  Accept acquisition by EvriM&A

  Background

  Radar Networks was operating as a privately held Semantic Web startup with Twine as its public product.

  Action taken

  Evri Inc. acquired Radar Networks on March 11, 2010.

  Aftermath

  Radar Networks ceased to operate independently, and Twine was shut down two months later and redirected to evri.com.

  Source

• 2010

  Discontinue TwineOther

  Background

  Following Evri’s acquisition of Radar Networks, the former company’s public service was integrated into the acquirer’s broader web presence.

  Action taken

  Twine was shut down on May 14, 2010, with its website redirected to evri.com.

  Aftermath

  Twine was no longer available as an independent service.

  Source

• 2008

  Open Twine to the publicProduct launch

  Background

  Radar Networks needed a public product through which to demonstrate its effort to bring Semantic Web technologies to general users.

  Action taken

  The company opened Twine as a public online social web service on October 21, 2008.

  Aftermath

  Twine became Radar Networks’ principal and only publicly released product before the company was acquired by Evri in 2010.

  Source

1. 1Radar Networksen.wikipedia.org