Foursquare, one of the hottest start-ups in the New York technology scene, is close to raising money to expand its social networking business, which allows users to share their location with friends.
The company has chosen to take additional venture capital money rather than pursue takeover talks with internet giant Yahoo, which is believed to have made an informal approach. Foursquare has more than doubled its user base in the past three months, to 1.7 million users.
Silicon Valley investor Andreessen Horowitz is understood to have decided to put money into the venture, and rumours suggest the investment could value Foursquare at US$80 million ($114 million). It is unclear how large the fund-raising will be.
The company, founded only 15 months ago by entrepreneurs Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai, is leading a wave of geo-location applications for iPhones, Blackberries and other smartphones.
Users "check in" to their current location, while Foursquare hopes that businesses will pay it to advertise to these users and to offer them special deals.
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Hot start-up snubs Yahoo takeover bid
Foursquare will take more VC funding instead of getting into bed with waning search giant Yahoo. Photo / Supplied
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