Funnelback in the hands of Squiz.

The CSIRO has sold off its Funnelback search engine to privately-owned open source content management system developer Squiz.

The price tag for the sale was not disclosed.

The engine, which started life as 'P@noptic' before being spun off as a separate company called Funnelback in 2006, is an "industrial strength" enterprise search product.

It boasts the ability to search across content "assets" like the internet, intranet, databases, shared network drives, and electronic document management and portal systems.

It was jointly developed by the CSIRO and the Australian National University.

Funnelback counts the Australian Securities Exchange, Oxfam, Westpac, the ABC, and various "Australian state and federal government departments" among its customer base, as does its new owner.

"We have a great many customers in common so it makes sense to bring the two organisations closer together," Squiz co-founder John-Paul Syriatowicz said.

The new Board will include Funnelback managing director Brett Matson and executive director Stuart Beil, as well as Squiz founders and directors Stephen Barker and Syriatowicz.

Dr David Hawking, Funnelback's technology founder, will also continue in his role as chief scientist.

The CSIRO said Squiz is the right "SME partner" to take the technology further.