In an exclusive report by Kara Swisher at AllThingsD, Foursquare Capital Corp (NYSE:FSQR) confirmed that they began Series D funding and raised $35 million in so doing. In a blog post, they summed up a year that saw a redesign of their apps and ultimately thanked its users while wishing them a happy holidays.
Foursquare series D funding
But the bulk of the post was focused on the Series D funding, where the post read, “To help us keep building our vision, we’re also happy today to announce that two new firms are investing $35 million in a Series D fundraise in Foursquare Capital Corp (NYSE:FSQR) – DFJ Growth and Capital Group (via their SMALLCAP World Fund). In addition, Barry Schuler, Managing Director of DFJ Growth and former CEO of AOL, will join our board. This investment means that we can build our vision even faster. And that you guys are going to see a lot more from our team.”
While it’s been widely reported that Foursquare was in trouble, this latest round of funding suggests otherwise. Ms. Swisher also reported in her exclusive that the company remains a bit ahead of its last valuation of $600 million, according to her sources. A Foursquare spokesman, however, declined to discuss the valuation with Swisher.
Barry Schuler to join the board
Schuler, who will join the board, is an energetic addition who cut his teeth at AOL, Inc. (NYSE:AOL) before later becoming both CEO and Chairman. In a recent interview CEO and co-founder Dennis Crowley and COO Evan Cohen stated that the additional funds would be used to continue the company’s international growth as well as grow sales and engineering.
“I think this round validates what I have been saying for a while — that these new passive awareness technologies are pointing to how we are going to take this company to a new level,” said Crowley, who noted that Foursquare now offers marketers six monetization options, up from two a year ago. “The steps we have taken over the last year have made us able to show investors the opportunities we have with the product.”
Added Cohen: “I think we are really delivering on the promises we made with the recommendations service and we had a better case when after we were able to get it out there for everyone to see.”
Ads for small business
Foursquare Capital Corp (NYSE:FSQR) took a bit of a pounding by the media this year, but still introduced four monetization tools this year including its Ads for Small Business that it will roll-out in 80 countries as well as its real-time recommendations launch.
Foursquare Capital Corp (NYSE:FSQR) has repeatedly been dogged by suggestions that it should have sold out to Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) or other interested suitors. This Series D funding comes just eight months from when Foursquare secured $41 million in debt financing.
“We had to not been able to demo what we were talking about until it was out there,” said Crowley about the ability to close funding now. “But once it was in place, it was easier to see where we are going.”
Foursquare Capital Corp (NYSE:FSQR) doesn’t disclose its monthly user numbers but is known to have over 45 million registered users.
“We think mobile technology and user engagement have caught up to Dennis and the Foursquare team’s vision,” said DFJ’s Schuler. “Highly-targeted geo delivery of useful content and promotions will be a huge part of the next phase of the Internet’s evolution and Foursquare Capital Corp (NYSE:FSQR) is the leader.”
