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§ Private Profile · 555 Broadway; Redwood City, CA 94063; United States
Internet service provider and web portal offering high-speed broadband internet access and online services for residential and business users.
Excite@Home was a broadband Internet service provider and web portal operator that delivered high-speed cable access and digital content, though its specific headquarters location remains undisclosed. The organization was formed through a $6.7 billion merger combining a portal with 20 million registered users and an infrastructure network reaching up to 67 million homes. At its peak, the enterprise projected $2 billion in annual revenue, maintained 1,200 employees, and managed 330,000 active broadband subscribers. The company operated with significant backing and distribution partnerships from major telecommunications entities, including AT&T, Cox Communications, and Comcast. Following financial difficulties, the business filed for bankruptcy in October 2001, selling its broadband infrastructure to AT&T for $307 million and portal assets to iWon and InfoSpace. Excite@Home was officially established in January 1999 through the acquisition of Excite, which was originally founded in 1993.
Key people at Excite@Home.
Excite@Home was founded in 1999 by Ryan McIntyre (Principal Engineer & Co-founder).
Excite@Home was a pioneering dot-com era company formed in January 1999 through the $6.7 billion merger of the Excite web portal and @Home Network's high-speed cable Internet service.[1][2][5] Excite, originally a search engine and portal with 20 million users, combined with @Home's 330,000 broadband subscribers and cable partnerships reaching 13-60 million homes, aiming to dominate online access and content delivery with projected $2 billion revenue by 2002.[1][2] It served consumers and businesses seeking faster Internet and personalized portals but collapsed amid the dot-com bust, filing for bankruptcy in 2001 after peaking at 4.1 million subscribers across multiple countries.[2][5]
The company built a hybrid platform merging Excite's search, portal services (including acquisitions like WebCrawler and Magellan), and @Home's cable broadband infrastructure, solving slow dial-up limitations for residential and @Work users.[1][3][4] Growth was explosive initially—Excite became the sixth most-visited site by 1997—but massive debts and market shifts led to its breakup, with assets sold to AT&T, iWon, and others.[2][4][5]
Excite originated in 1993-1994 as a Stanford University graduate student project called Architext Software, evolving into a full search engine launched in 1995 after raising $1.5-4 million in venture funding; its six founders became millionaires via a hot 1996 IPO.[1][3][5] The company aggressively expanded by acquiring rivals like Magellan and WebCrawler, securing deals with Netscape, AOL, Apple, Microsoft, and Intuit, and nearly buying early Google (then BackRub) for $1 million in 1997.[3][4][7][9]
@Home Network launched in 1995-1996 as a joint venture backed by cable giants TCI, Comcast, Cox Communications, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, with Milo Medin as key engineer and William Randolph Hearst III as first CEO; it leveraged the 1996 Telecommunications Act to deliver high-speed cable Internet, adding @Work services in 1997 via partnerships like Teleport.[1][2] The pivotal 1999 merger created Excite@Home under George Bell as president/CEO (with Thomas Jermoluk initially leading), blending portals with broadband amid hype for 30-35% margins.[1][2][5]
Excite@Home rode the late-1990s broadband and portal boom, capitalizing on the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to upgrade cable for two-way Internet, challenging dial-up monopolies like AOL amid surging web adoption.[2][6] Its timing aligned with dot-com euphoria—Excite's IPO and mergers exemplified hype-driven valuations—but exposed vulnerabilities to overexpansion and portal commoditization as Google disrupted search in 1998.[3][4][9]
Market forces like cable upgrades (reaching millions of homes) and VC influx favored it initially, influencing the ecosystem by accelerating broadband rollout and personal portals, but the 2000-2001 bubble burst amplified debts from unupgraded infrastructure and losses.[1][2][5] It shaped early ISP competition (e.g., vs. RoadRunner) and search evolution, with remnants like Excite Japan persisting independently.[2][5]
Excite@Home epitomized dot-com ambition—merging content with infrastructure—but faltered on unsustainable debt and tech shifts, liquidating by 2002 with AT&T acquiring core broadband for $307 million.[2][5] Its legacy endures in modern cable Internet and portals, underscoring risks of hype over fundamentals.
No revival is underway; Excite.com survives marginally under Ask Media Group/System1, while @Home trademarks live on regionally.[2][5] Future trends like fiber optics and AI-driven search have long eclipsed it, but it remains a cautionary tale for tech consolidation in volatile markets, tying back to its Stanford-born roots as a symbol of innovation's fleeting highs.
Excite@Home was founded in 1999 by Ryan McIntyre (Principal Engineer & Co-founder).
Key people at Excite@Home.
