NY Times 4 February
On Tuesday, Foursquare, the location-sharing application, announced a data licensing partnership and $15 million investment from Microsoft. The partnership is described as a “commercial and technical” licensing deal that will knit Foursquare recommendations into Microsoft’s local and search products over the next four years. Foursquare recommendations could show up in a mobile Bing search, for example.
The deal, which is not exclusive, is expected to generate revenue for Foursquare, according to the company. The company declined to be more specific about the terms.
The $15 million from Microsoft will be used in the next year to help Foursquare “double down on local search and experiences,” said Holger Luedorf, who runs the company’s head of business development. Foursquare also will use the money for “investing in our engineering team and our sales team and international markets,” he said.