Amazon A9 gets new competition from startup Twiggle

Amazon.com Inc.’s proprietary e-commerce search engine A9 may soon have a new competitor in the form of Yahoo Japan-backed Israeli startup Twiggle.

The web- and mobilebased service has lined up a funding round led by Naspers Ltd., the Cape Town, South Africa-based group known for its early investment in Chinese ecommerce site Tencent Holdings Ltd.

Tel Aviv-based Twiggle is aiming to license its software to leading online retailing companies around the world and will use the US$12.5 million in funding to expand globally.

“About 25 years ago, when Amazon started, they did something amazing — they gave everyone the possibility to shop from home,” chief executive and co-founder Amir Konigsberg said in an interview. “But what they took away is the salesperson expertise.”

Amazon wasn’t immediately available to comment.

Twiggle plans to partner with Naspers’ companies and license its tech to other large e-commerce platforms and is coming to market as global online sales continue to climb. Consulting firm A.T. Kearney forecast in a report that sales would reach nearly US$1 trillion in 2015, growing to US$1.5 trillion by 2018.

With competitors including not only Amazon, but also IBM, Oracle and Adobe Systems, Twiggle can’t expect a smooth road to success. But the company, and its investors, are confident.

“The elephant in the room is always going to be Google and Amazon,” Konigsberg said. “I get asked, are you really going to build a technology that competes with them, and the answer is yes. Not with their whole business, but something very specific which we know how to do very well.”