One of Seattle’s longest-running Internet brands is being swept into the dust bin of history — and some may say it is about time. InfoSpace, the dot-com survivor founded by Internet entrepreneur Naveen Jain in 1996, today announced that it is changing its name to Blucora Inc.
As part of the move, the Bellevue company has adopted the ticker symbol BCOR.
“Our company has transformed over the past year with the acquisition of TaxAct,” said Blucora CEO Bill Ruckelshaus. “The Blucora name change marks our evolution as the owner of two online businesses and will help further distinguish our parent company from our operating units.”
InfoSpace has had a bit of tortured history over the years, shedding multiple business units and falling from its peak during the dot-com era. But the company is in the midst of a major transformation, highlighted by its $287 million acquisition of TaxAct earlier this year. That deal pushed the company into an entirely new arena, beyond the traditional Internet search business that it was known for.
To celebrate the name change, Blucora execs are expected to ring the opening bell on Nasdaq this morning.
Blucora is an interesting name, and I’ve reached out to the company to get more details on its meaning and how it was derived. In the meantime, let us know what you think.
UPDATE: Here’s what the company said when I asked about the choice of the name, which they said was driven through an internal brainstorm with the goal of creating a “unique and strong corporate identity.”
“We chose Blucora from a handful of candidates surfaced in a short internal process, said spokeswoman Stacy Ybarra. “We see the coined name as a neutral, extensible vehicle for us as we continue to evolve our strategy and articulate our story.”
