A surge in orders from the federal government helped enterprise search software maker Convera improve its finances during the second quarter.
The Vienna, Va., company tallied revenues of $7.6 million, up 51 percent over the same period last year. Net loss was $5.1 million, or 18 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $9 million, or 31 cents per share, in last year’s second quarter.
Business from Washington was the driver, soaring 167 percent over the same period last year.
Other customers for Convera’s flagship RetrievalWare product, which help organize and present large volumes of data, include financial services companies and overseas governments, including civilian, defnese and intelligence agencies.
To improve its balance sheet during the quarter, Convera raised $17 million in a private placement of its stock and trimmed expenses by about 10 percent.
In its last annual report, the company said it was comfortable with its cash position, but CEO Patrick Condo said the fundraising served two purposes.
“We’re involved in a number of discussions with some very large corporations and government agencies that involve multi-year deals,” Condo said in a conference call this morning. “This requires that (the potential customers) are comfortable with our balance sheets. It was something our competitors were using against us.”
Money in the bank also gives Convera the option of acquiring compelmentary technology, Rondo said.
Convera’s products can search across more than 200 forms of text, video, image, and audio information, in more than 45 languages. The company has 800 customers in 33 countries.