Foursquare co-founder says equity holders saw no returns from the company’s acquisition

Last month, advertizing institution Infillion acquired location-data level Foursquare, a erstwhile fashionable societal network, astatine an undisclosed value. Now, successful a caller blog post, Foursquare co-founder and erstwhile CEO Dennis Crowley said that investors didn’t spot immoderate returns from the sale.

Crowley referenced a station by an angel investor, inferred that neither preferred nor communal stockholders got immoderate worth retired of the deal, and said helium was disappointed by the outcome.

“I was heartbroken by this ending. So galore radical enactment truthful overmuch clip and vigor and passionateness and emotion into gathering Foursquare – the company, the products, the brand, the culture. If you were portion of it (or adjacent adjacent to it), you cognize precisely what I’m talking about. To our ~1600 erstwhile employees implicit 17 years, I americium atrocious the Foursquare communicative ended successful specified a mode that makes it look similar our corporate efforts were worth… nothing?,” helium said successful the post.

Crowley said that the institution did good aft it started focusing connected endeavor concern and had consecutive years with implicit $100 cardinal successful revenue. In 2019, the institution raised capital from a backstage equity steadfast and, successful 2021, brought successful the banker who led the rise arsenic CEO. Crowley blamed the last result connected that transition, saying that the absorption of the institution wasn’t capable to sphere oregon make caller value.

Foursquare, which had raised implicit $411 cardinal successful backing according to PitchBook data, yet shut down its app successful 2024.

Several radical reacted to Crowley’s station and said that Foursquare was precise utile to them successful discovering new places successful their cities and besides gave ideas for caller apps. After Foursquare, startups similar Zenly and Jagat, on with Instagram and Snapchat, person explored societal maps.