The Palo Alto, CA founders of Powerset Inc. are very hungry. Barney Pell, an AI expert claims that their searching technology is capable of being more advanced than Google. Currently Powerset is on the verge of raising $10 million and is asking to have their company valued at $20 million before the investment. If a VC plugs in $10 million in Powerset, then they would own 33.3% of the company.

Some blogs and news articles are pondering how it is possible for a highly ambitious former NASA and SRI engineer such as Pell be so confident in directly taking on the search experts employed by Google. However, Pell pitched Powerset to Bay and Foundation Capital and investors are looking at Powerset as a serious investment.

Powerset had raised roughly $2 million from various investors including CommerceNet and angel investor, Reid Hoffman. This round of funding was worth convertible notes (converts into shares) after Series A funding is complete.