Foursquare's new funding round cuts valuation in half

New York

WHEN Dennis Crowley helped found Foursquare in 2009, he was ahead of the pack in creating a social app that used location technology. Now, Foursquare may be at the front of another coming wave: tech startups that are raising money at lower valuations than before.

On Thursday, Foursquare said it had raised US$45 million in a new round of venture funding, as it tries to bolster its location data-based advertising and developer businesses. The financing pegs Foursquare's valuation at roughly half of the approximately US$650 million that it was valued at in its last round in 2013, according to three people with knowledge of the deal's terms, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.