Inveni's Discovery Engine Will Drive Social Recommendations in Web's Next Wave

SAN FRANCISCO and CHICAGO, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Inveni LLC, developers of a discovery engine that will change how consumers both make and receive recommendations on the Web, announced today that its free service is now publicly available after more than a year in development and several months of private beta testing.  The company is making its debut at the TechCrunch Disrupt event in San Francisco (http://disrupt.techcrunch.com/2010-sf/), and also demonstrating its technology later today at the midVenturesLAUNCH startup conference in Chicago (www.midventureslaunch.com/).

"The next wave of the Web will be about personalization. We're focusing on using personalization to meaningfully improve discovery and decision making," said Aaron Weber, CEO and cofounder. "The Inveni discovery engine leaps ahead of other online recommendation services.  What we've developed is unlike anything previously available.  Inveni consolidates ratings you put anywhere online -- Netflix, IMDB, and more -- provides tools to make and receive recommendations wherever you are, and helps you make better, more informed buying decisions." The service has received positive feedback from users during the private beta over the past several months, said Weber.

What It Does and Whom It Benefits

Inveni (www.inveni.com) provides its highly personalized product recommendations based on a consumer's universal taste profile.  To create a personalized taste profile, Inveni empowers users to aggregate product and service ratings they've made across the Internet to quickly build deep, rich profiles of their tastes.  Beginning with the media categories of movies and TV, users can share their taste profile information with friends and other services online.  Inveni also facilitates product recommendations between friends (word of mouth), based on their tastes.

"We use this taste profile data, along with our unique crowd-refined recommendation engine, to provide highly targeted advertising, while simultaneously providing consumers with a compelling personalized service for discovery and sharing," said Robert Bodor, CTO and cofounder, "We aim to become the premier provider of highly targeted consumer data for advertising online. We do that by turning the current consumer data model upside down, putting the user in control of their information.  We are entirely opt-in, and are raising the bar on consumer privacy protection."

A two-minute video describing Inveni's value proposition (targeted to consumers) may be viewed here: http://bit.ly/bm6J0F.

About Inveni LLC

Inveni (www.inveni.com) is a software development firm, based in Minnetonka, MN, dedicated to driving the personalization revolution that will be Web 3.0.  It was founded in 2008 by two experienced Internet entrepreneurs, Aaron Weber and Robert Bodor, and has a stellar set of successful Internet-industry executives acting as advisors. It is privately funded. Follow Inveni on Twitter at www.twitter.com/discoverinveni and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/inveni.

About TechCrunch Disrupt: TechCrunch Disrupt (http://disrupt.techcrunch.com), Sept 27-29 2010, at San Francisco Design Center Concourse, 635 8th Street (at Brannan), is TechCrunch's inaugural conference in San Francisco attracting more than 1500 leading technology innovators and investors and more than 150 new startups. The format combines top thought-leader discussions with new product and company launches. Morning executive discussions debate the most timely disruptions in media, advertising, and technology. Afternoons host the Startup Battlefield where 25 new companies will launch for the first time on stage, selected to present from more than 500 applications received from around the world. Another 100 early-stage startups will exhibit in Startup Alley. TechCrunch will award a $50,000 grand prize along with other award recognitions at the conclusion of the conference.

About TechCrunch: TechCrunch (www.techcrunch.com) is a leading technology media network, dedicated to obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies. Founded in 2005, TechCrunch and its network of web sites reach more than 8 million unique visitors and more than 25 million page views per month. TechCrunch operates a global network of web sites, including dedicated properties in Europe and Japan as well as specialized industry websites including MobileCrunch, CrunchGear, and TechCrunchIT. TechCrunch's CrunchBase is the leading, open database about startup companies, people, and investors. In addition to Disrupt, TechCrunch hosts other conferences and events, including The Crunchies Awards and various meet-ups worldwide serving as community platforms for industry conversation and collaboration.

About midVenturesLAUNCH: The largest startup and innovation conference in the Midwest, midVenturesLAUNCH (http://midventureslaunch.com/) brings together entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and the media from all parts of the tech community. Being held September 27-29, 2010 in Chicago, it is a unique opportunity to watch great new ideas come to life.

SOURCE Inveni LLC