A Reason to Check In

Chris Selland is a Boston-based technology industry analyst & startup executive.  Currently, he is an Expert Advisor for Focus Research and blogs at terametric.com.

Like many, I’ve been on the fence about Foursquare for a long time – while I do use it (on and off) I’ve struggled to see much value in ‘checking in’. But you’ve got to give the company credit for perseverance, and that seems to have paid off in their latest round of funding.

I am particularly excited about their partnership with American Express ($AXP) which is unique, creative, and (finally) provides users like me with a significant reason to ‘check-in’ more often.

Mobile and location-based services are clearly the future and Foursquare seems like they are committed to being one of the key enablers in connecting the dots between businesses and consumers. Congrats on the round – well-done.

Foursquare has just closed one of the most secretive rounds of venture capital TechCrunch has seen.

The company is raising $50 million, and all of it will go towards building out the company, no secondary sales here. The valuation had been rumored to be as high as $1 billion, but our sources say it settled out at $550 million pre-money, $600 million post.