E-Business:
Starting Gate
By Lisa Bransten
11/22/1999

Auction Action

Web auctions are becoming such a big business that they have launched an entirely new category of companies offering help for auctioneers and sellers. In the past few months, venture capitalists have injected nearly $40 million into three companies devoted to helping small businesses and consumers plow through auction sites run by companies such as eBay Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. One of the biggest recent financings is the $19.6 million raised last month by Andale Inc., which helps small businesses selling goods on the auction sites manage inventory, keep track of finances and improve customer relations. The financing was led by Mohr, Davidow Ventures and also included investments from Accel Partners and Oak Hill Venture Partners. Meanwhile, AuctionWatch.com raised $9.6 million in a round led by Sequoia Capital that also included funding from @Ventures, the venture-capital wing of CMGI Inc. And Bidder's Edge Inc. raised $9 million from media company Landmark Communications Inc. Both start-ups aggregate auction content so bidders can see items for sale in one category across all of the different auction sites.

The new auction hangers-on don't always have an easy time. EBay has blocked AuctionWatch from collecting its listings after the two companies failed to reach a licensing agreement, and it has threatened to do the same to Bidder's Edge.