New round of funding values Twitter at $1 billion
26 Sep 2009
Twitter, the free social networking and micro-blogging site has received $100 million in a new round of funding on Friday, which values the three year-old start-up, which has yet to figure out how to make money, at $1 billion.
According to media reports, Twitter received $100 million in funding from investors including mutual fund giant T. Rowe Price, private equity firms Insight Venture Partners, Spark Capital, Institutional Venture Partners and Benchmark Capital.
In a brief statement on its website, Twitter confirmed the new round of funding which closed yesterday, but did not disclose the terms of the agreement and the amount raised.
In February, Twitter raised $35 million in funding from US venture capital firms Benchmark and Institutional Venture Partners in February, valuing the company at between $200 million and $250 million. (See: Micro-blogging service Twitter gets $35 million investor funding)
San Francisco-based Twitter, the privately funded start-up founded by Jack Dorsey in 2006, has raised over $57 million from venture capitalists since its inception in March 2006 until last month. Twitter was funded initially by Obvious, a creative outfit in San Francisco when it was launched publicly in August of 2006.
Twitter's amazing success lured even more investors as, last week, TechCrunch, a blog that profiles start-up companies, said that Twitter chief executive Evan Williams told employees at a recent meeting that the company would raise around $50 million, although the final amount was yet to be finalised. (See: New funding values Twitter at $1 billion)
