Two former Amazon.com executives are developing a new Seattle startup that will attempt to connect consumers with pertinent disease and health care information.

Keith Schorsch, who oversaw Amazon.com's initial push into electronics and other products, and Ruben Ortega, the former chief technology officer of Amazon.com's A9 search engine, are attempting to create a new online network that unites people who have dealt with similar ailments.

The company registered the domain name PeerWisdom earlier this year and the team -- consisting of several former Amazon employees -- has been quietly operating under that name. A source familiar with the company said that PeerWisdom recently raised about $2 million in angel financing, though executives declined to comment.

"We're currently in a quiet period as we create something that's truly newsworthy," said Schorsch in an e-mail. The company's Web site says that it wants to "move beyond generic health information and connect people who have been through a similar health experience."

A job description on the site says they are looking for someone who can reach out to health communities and synthesize "user-generated content in a way that will make our site grow rapidly."

Online health care information is becoming a lucrative, yet increasingly crowded area. Deep pocketed investors such as Microsoft, Google and Steve Case's Revolution Health are tossing big bucks into health care technologies.

WebMD, which acquired the Seattle online consumer health service OnHealth in February 2000, also is a significant player.

In a blog post last month, Google Vice President Adam Bosworth stressed the importance of putting "health into the patients hands." One of his core principles was community, something that PeerWisdom is hoping to build.

"Consumers should be able to learn from and educate those in similar health circumstances and from their health practitioners," Bosworth wrote.

While there is plenty of competition, that could signal a market opportunity. And Greg Linden, a former Amazon.com employee, said that Schorsch and Ortega have solid track records.

"It is a strong team with people who had been at Amazon since the early days that know how to build computer applications that really scale," said Linden, who was familiar with PeerWisdom's business but declined to offer many details.

Before joining Amazon in 1997, Schorsch worked in management positions at McCaw Cellular.
Linden did not know the company's financial situation. However, he said that Schorsch, who previously ran a small angel investment group in Seattle, has deep connections in the investment community. He called Schorsch -- who founded PeerWisdom -- a "driven guy" who has a lot of passion.

Ortega spent the past nine years at Amazon, rising through the ranks from a software engineer to the head of the company's A9 search engine. He also was responsible for the technical roll out of Amazon's Mechanical Turk service.

Linden said that developers nicknamed some of the early recommendation applications at Amazon.com "Botegas" as a salute to Ortega's influence and another developer, Dwayne Bowman.

"He has quite a background," said Linden of Ortega.

Whether they can carve a niche in the online health category remains to be seen. And $2 million in funding – while a significant angel financing round – is peanuts compared to the investment power of possible competitors.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: After my print deadline had passed and several hours after getting an initial no comment, I heard back from PeerWisdom product and marketing director Jude O'Reilley who cofirmed that the company recently closed on $2 million. He noted that it took the company less than 60 days to close the round from "slide deck to check," though he declined to name investors until they get final approval. (With those types of PR hoops, it could only mean big names). The former Aventail and Megapath executive also said that PeerWisdom is a code name, with a full release of the product slated for the fourth quarter.

UPDATE: One competitor I failed to mention is PatientsLikeMe, a Cambridge, Mass.-based startup backed with more than $5 million from Collaborative Seed and Growth Partners, Invus, CommerceNet and Omidyar Networks. The 15-person startup also has created a way for patients to share information with other patients.