Advertising company Infillion acquired location data platform Foursquare last month in a deal whose financial terms were not disclosed.
However, Foursquare co founder and former Chief Executive Officer Dennis Crowley has revealed that investors received no financial returns from the acquisition.

In a blog post, Crowley expressed disappointment over the outcome, suggesting that neither preferred nor common shareholders benefited financially from the transaction.

Crowley described the acquisition as a heartbreaking conclusion to the company’s history, acknowledging the dedication and commitment of the people who helped build Foursquare over 17 years.

He apologised to approximately 1,600 former employees, expressing concern that the outcome might make their collective contributions appear worthless.

He noted that employees had invested significant time, energy, passion and creativity in developing the company’s products, brand and organisational culture.

According to Crowley, Foursquare performed well after shifting its focus towards enterprise services, recording annual revenues exceeding $100 million for consecutive years.

In 2019, the company secured investment from a private equity firm and subsequently appointed the banker who led the fundraising as its chief executive in 2021.

Crowley suggested that the management transition contributed to the disappointing outcome, arguing that the company’s leadership failed to preserve or create sufficient value for shareholders.

Foursquare had raised more than $411 million in funding during its existence, according to PitchBook data.

Despite its early popularity as a location based social networking platform, the company eventually shut down its consumer application in 2024.
Its technology and business operations continued to evolve, but the latest acquisition has raised questions about the financial returns generated for the investors who supported its growth.

Crowley’s announcement prompted reactions from former users who remembered Foursquare as a valuable tool for discovering restaurants, attractions and other interesting places in their cities.

The platform also influenced the development of location based social networking services, inspiring ideas explored by companies such as Zenly and Jagat, alongside features introduced by Instagram and Snapchat.

Although Foursquare’s acquisition marks a disappointing financial outcome for its investors, its influence on location based technology remains significant.

Source: TechCrunch