Kelkoo was founded in 1999 by Pierre Chappaz, Jérôme Mercier and Mauricio Lopez. Initial funding of $3 million was provided by Banexi Ventures and
Innovacom. Once Kelkoo merged with three other European businesses, it absorbed those founders into one single collective, consisting of
Per Siljubergsåsen,
William Klippgen, Philip Wilkinson, and Jorge Garcia. In April 2000, within days of each other, Kelkoo merged with Spanish-based Dondecomprar.com and UK based competitor ShopGenie, founded by Philip Wilkinson. In September of the same year, Kelkoo merged with Norway-based
Zoomit.com, paying the Zoomit-shareholders in shares amounting to a third of Kelkoo's total equity making
Zoomit.com the largest entity within "new" Kelkoo. In June 2003, the company partnered with the European arm of the
Microsoft site
MSN to provide shopping listings. A similar deal was announced in June 2004 with
Ask.com (formerly Ask Jeeves). On 26 March, 2004, Kelkoo was bought by
Yahoo! Inc for €450 million. In November 2008, Kelkoo was sold by
Yahoo! Inc to the private equity firm Jamplant Ltd. In October 2016, Kelkoo acquired LeGuide group, the price comparison market leader in France. This newly formed group of two historical players had a major impact on the industry, with Kelkoo becoming the European leader in shopping comparison, a unique international position. ==Business model==