New Search is hotting up in the Blinkx of an eye

Autonomy is spinning out the consumer arm of its search technology and will float on AIM (aka get a tranche of money in a heating up Tech market). This technology allows audio and video search.

In essence they will demerge their "consumer" technology, roll it into Blinkx, a consumer search company they have invested some $12m in over the years which they will also take over, and then float the new entity on the London Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

Simple then....no matter what Wired says (see previous article)

The FT comments on it here. They note that:

The consumer division will be renamed Blinkx, and listed on London’s AIM exchange for growth stocks in May. Autonomy will retain around 10 per cent of the shares following the float.

The company is considering issuing new shares at the time of the float to provide funding for the new business, which is expected to be initially lossmaking.

Blinkx is looking to create an advertising-funded business, along the lines of the Google business model.

So - take an existing brand and customers in the USA, add sexy new technology area, promise losses, but dangle Ad funded business model for a great future - a made-for-float company !

Last time round the NASDAQ was where it mainly all happened....but is that now too regulated for these sort of plays? Will AIM be the NASDAQ for Bubble 2.0?

(Postscript - GigaOm says it more bluntly here and here)