Online micro-blogging service Twitter is now exploring ways to monetise the site after raising $US35 million in capital from two US-based firms, the company wrote on a blog post.
The company, founded by entrepreneurs Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone and Evan Williams in March 2006, says the new funds puts it in a position to be able to begin introducing “revenue-generating products”.
“We are now positioned extremely well to support the accelerating growth of our service, further enable the robust ecosystem sprouting up around Twitter, and yes, to begin building revenue-generating products,” Stone said in the company’s blog.
The site has accepted funding from venture capital firms Institutional Venture Partners and Benchmark, which it argues will bring the site’s value to $250 million. Peter Fenton from Benchmark will also join Twitter’s board of directors.
“We weren’t actively seeking more funding. Nevertheless, our strong growth attracted interest and we decided to accept a unique opportunity to make Twitter even stronger with a very attractive offer.”
The site has not revealed what these “revenue-generating products” will be, but may likely include paid advertisements. Stone also says the site will add to its current employee base of 29, and will continue to explore new business opportunities.
“With these new partnerships and this new funding, we are in a position to move more confidently toward our vision for a robust and successful Twitter.”
Twitter allows users to send and receive status updates of no more than 140 characters in length – known as “tweets” – usually about what the user is doing at a particular moment.
But the site has surged in popularity, recording a 900% increase in active users over a year, and has transformed into a major business marketing tool.
Twitter is now also known to be a source of news and current affairs, as users will quickly update first-hand information and pictures of events – such as last month’s US Airways Flight 1549 floating in the Hudson River.
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Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
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