ResearchGate, a professional network for scientists, has a new investment from Bill Gates and Tenaya Capital with participation from Dragoneer Investment Group, Thrive Capital and the company's existing investors Benchmark and Founders Fund.

The new financing will help further innovation in the fields of sharing and searching for scientific data online, including raw data and data from failed experiments. ResearchGate is also changing the way scientific reputation is measured.

"With ResearchGate's growing network of more than 2.9 million members, we are just beginning to see the transformative impact of removing the arcane barriers to scientific collaboration and sharing,” said Benchmark general partner and a member of the board Matt Cohler.