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Search vendor SurfRay in liquidation

10-Feb-2009

Tags: Enterprise Search, Selecting Technology, Vendor Viability & Financials, MondoSearch

[update 2/25/2010] This post was written early 2009. Since then, SurfRay has continued business under new management and investors. For the latest news, see http://www.eiwatch.com/Blog/Product/MondoSearch.

I've reported on the troubles at Danish search vendor SurfRay before, but it seems that it is now curtains for the company. A trustee has been appointed to liquidate the company's assets.

SurfRay acquired then-bankrupt MondoSoft, and its fairly well-known and respected Ontolica and MondoSearch products (which we cover in our Search & Information Access Report) in late 2007. Ever since, it has been on a bumpy ride. There were continuous rumors about the viability of the company, several changes in management, and then the bankruptcy of the Swedish subsidiary last month. Bill Cobbs, who was appointed as CEO only 8 months ago, quietly left the company (it was only reflected by the change of his bio on LinkedIn). And as it turns out, Surfray staff didn't receive their January salary.

This probably doesn't mean the products will disappear -- it's quite likely the technology will be picked up by a new buyer. But with SurfRay gone, suffice it to say that for now, MondoSearch and Ontolica shouldn't be on your shortlist if you're shopping for a search solution.

[Update 5:30PM CET: The Danish Computerworld site reported earlier that the company had filed for bankruptcy itself and that management was in a final attempt to keep the company going, by buying it back from the trustee at a lower price. This was based on statements from Martin Veise, SurfRay CEO/owner/founder. A new item from Computerworld however now states that there was nothing voluntary about the bankruptcy: it was instigated by the tax authority, since the company owes 6 million DKK -- about $1 million -- in taxes. The curator has no knowledge of any rescue plans .]

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