SLI Systems is a privately owned company that sells site search software for large content-based e-commerce

Electronic commerce

Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, eCommerce or e-comm, refers to the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. However, the term may refer to more than just buying and selling products online...

 websites. It was founded in 2001 by people from New Zealand and America. The acronym part of the company name stands for Search, Learn and Improve, which refers to the way the software learns from the users' search behavior.

The company has over 25 employees. Its main office is in Christchurch, New Zealand, with other offices in California, and London. In a 2005 interview, its CEO, Shaun Ryan, said: "Normally, U.S. customers don't notice that our technical stuff is done in New Zealand." "We normally don't tell them." The company has over 300 clients internationally, including Tupperware

Tupperware

Tupperware is the name of a home products line that includes preparation, storage, containment, and serving products for the kitchen and home, which were first introduced to the public in 1946....

, Hot Topic

Hot Topic

Hot Topic is an American retail chain specializing in music and pop culture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music on CD. The majority of the stores are located in regional shopping malls. The first Hot Topic store was opened in 1988 by Orv Madden, who retired as CEO in 2000...

, American Bridal, Vermont Teddy Bear Company

Vermont Teddy Bear Company

The Vermont Teddy Bear Company is one of the largest producers of teddy bears and the largest seller of teddy bears by mail order and Internet. The company handcrafts each of its teddy bears and produces almost 500,000 teddy bears each year...

 and Qantas

Qantas

Qantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia. The name was originally "QANTAS", an initialism for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services". Nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo", the airline is based in Sydney, with its main hub at Sydney Airport...

. Other clients include New Zealand electronics store, Dick Smith Electronics

Dick Smith Electronics

Dick Smith is an international electronics retailer, founded in 1968 by Richard "Dick" Smith. Today, it is a subsidiary of Woolworths Limited, incorporating Tandy, and the remaining Dick Smith Powerhouse Stores...

 and the Christchurch City Council

Christchurch City Council

The Christchurch City Council is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since 2007, the Mayor of Christchurch is Bob Parker, who stood as an independent candidate...

 website.

SLI's main product, Learning Search, is not based on algorithms as are many search technologies; instead it uses the behavior of its users to determine the search results. The company also sells a user-generated search engine optimization (SEO) product called Site Champion, and a site navigation product called Learning Navigation. In 2007 the company updated its site search technology to increase the number of pages it can index from 1.5 million to around 5 million.

The brothers Shaun and Grant Ryan started up SLI Systems with technology originally developed at GlobalBrain, a company started in 1998. It was later acquired by the internet arm of US media company, NBC, called NBCi in April, 2000 for US$32 million. However, months later, all their millions "disappeared" with the dot-com crash, Shaun Ryan said.

In 2006 the company revenue was $4 million, which Shaun Ryan expected would be doubled by the end of 2007 to $8 million. SLI Systems was recognized as a "fast growing company," by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited , commonly referred to as Deloitte, is one of the Big Four accountancy firms along with PricewaterhouseCoopers , Ernst & Young, and KPMG....

, and was a finalist in the New Zealand Export Awards 2007.

Grant Ryan and Steven Marder are also co-founders of Eurekster

Eurekster

Eurekster is a company founded in Christchurch, New Zealand, with an office located in San Francisco, California, that builds social search engines for use on websites, the search engines are called swickis ....

, another form of search engine.