Blekko Lays Off Eight, Raises $6 Million More

Earlier this week blekko, which just introduced a bold new UI, had a reduction in force. Eight people were let go “as part of an effort to reduce costs,” said CEO Rich Skrenta, who added, “blekko’s revenues are growing and these cost reductions will help us as we work toward profitability.”

Skrenta told me by email that the company had also closed an additional $6 million round. That brings the company’s total funding to nearly $60 million to date.

Asked about metrics, Skrenta told me that blekko is now doing 5 million searches daily on blekko.com and blekko-powered sites. He said that blekko has 12.5 million monthly uniques.

Skrenta also proudly points out that there are “only three entities worldwide with an English algorithmic search index: Google, Bing and blekko.” The layoffs and new financing, he says, “Will give us the ability to further develop our search platform and continue to grow our business.”