Foursquare (company)

File:Naveen Selvadurai.jpg

Co-founders Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai founded Foursquare in 2008 and launched Foursquare City Guide in 2009 at SXSW.{{cite news |last1=Van Grove |first1=Jennifer |title=Foursquare is the Breakout Mobile App at SXSW |url=https://mashable.com/2009/03/16/foursquare/ |access-date=19 July 2018 |work=Mashable |date=16 March 2009}} Crowley had previously founded the similar project Dodgeball as his graduate thesis project in the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at New York University and subsequently sold it to Google in 2005.{{cite news |last1=Block |first1=Ryan |title=Google buys Dodgeball |url=https://www.engadget.com/2005/05/12/google-buys-dodgeball/ |access-date=19 July 2018 |work=Engadget |date=12 May 2005}}

In November 2009, Foursquare opened up access to its API, enabling developers to access data generated by the Foursquare app and build applications on top of that data.{{cite news |last1=Siegler |first1=MG |title=Foursquare Lets Others Play With Its API |url=https://techcrunch.com/2009/11/16/foursquare-api/ |access-date=19 July 2018 |work=TechCrunch |date=16 November 2009}} Foursquare opened its second office, in San Francisco, the next year, shortly after reaching one million users.{{cite news |last1=Siegler |first1=MG |title=Foursquare Checks-In To A San Francisco Office |url=https://techcrunch.com/2010/08/18/foursquare-san-francisco/ |access-date=19 July 2018 |work=TechCrunch |date=19 August 2010}} In 2011, Foursquare began working on Pilgrim SDK, the core technology that combines stop-detection and snap-to-place functions in order to provide contextual awareness to Foursquare's apps.{{cite news |last1=Chaey |first1=Christina |title=Foursquare Now Knows Where You Are, What To Do There, Even If You Don't |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/3016555/foursquare-now-knows-where-you-are-what-to-do-there-even-if-you-dont |access-date=19 July 2018 |work=Fast Company |date=29 August 2013}}{{cite news |last1=Heath |first1=Alex |title=Foursquare has an amazing 'superpower' that wants to take over your phone |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-foursquares-pilgrim-technology-2015-12 |access-date=19 July 2018 |work=Business Insider |date=1 January 2016}}{{cite news |title=2 key reasons why Foursquare's move to open up access to its location data is important |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/foursquare-launches-sdk-opens-access-to-location-data-2017-3 |access-date=19 July 2018 |work=Business Insider |date=2 March 2017 |archive-date=20 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820083730/http://www.businessinsider.com/foursquare-launches-sdk-opens-access-to-location-data-2017-3 |url-status=dead }} As of January 31, 2023, Foursquare renamed its Pilgrim SDK product to Movement SDK.{{Cite web |last=Foursquare |date=2023-01-31 |title=Movement SDK: The Future of Location Intelligence |url=https://location.foursquare.com/resources/blog/leadership/movement-sdk-the-future-of-location-intelligence/ |access-date=2023-07-13 |website=Foursquare |language=en-US}}

In May 2014, the company launched Swarm, a companion app to Foursquare City Guide, that moved the social networking and location sharing aspects of the service to a separate application.NICK SUMMERS, The Next Web. "[https://thenextweb.com/apps/2014/05/15/can-foursquares-new-swarm-app-save-check/ Back to basics: Swarm redefines the Foursquare check-in to help you meet nearby friends]." May 15, 2014. Retrieved Jan 12, 2017. In August 2014, the company launched Foursquare 8.0, a completely new version of the service that shifted the focus from check-ins to focus on local search and recommendations.{{cite news |last1=Hamburger |first1=Ellis |title=Foursquare 8.0 review: the ultimate food-finder |url=https://www.theverge.com/2014/8/6/5973627/foursquare-8-review-the-ultimate-food-finder |access-date=1 August 2018 |work=The Verge |date=6 August 2014}}

In April 2015, Foursquare began offering location-based enterprise products for marketers and advertisers with the launch of Pinpoint.{{cite news |last1=Weber |first1=Harrison |title=Foursquare unveils Pinpoint to show you ads based on where you've been |url=https://venturebeat.com/2015/04/14/foursquare-launches-pinpoint-to-show-you-ads-based-on-where-youve-been/ |access-date=19 July 2018 |work=VentureBeat |date=14 April 2015}} The company subsequently released Attribution, a tool for media performance measurement, in February 2016,{{cite news |title=Foursquare's Potentially Game-Changing New Tool Can Measure Foot Traffic Generated by Digital Ads |url=https://www.adweek.com/digital/foursquares-potentially-game-changing-new-tool-can-measure-foot-traffic-generated-digital-ads-169785/ |access-date=19 July 2018 |work=Adweek |date=22 February 2016}} and the Movement (FKA Pilgrim) software development kit, which allows developers to use Foursquare's core Movement technology to add context into their own apps and services, in March 2017.{{cite news |last1=Crook |first1=Jordan |title=Foursquare launches Pilgrim SDK to let developers leverage location |url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/01/foursquare-launches-pilgrim-sdk-to-let-developers-leverage-location/ |access-date=19 July 2018 |work=TechCrunch |date=1 March 2017}} Each of these tools can be used independently, or they can be bundled together.{{cite news |last1=Crook |first1=Jordan |title=Foursquare brings on Liz Ritzcovan as chief revenue officer |url=https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/10/foursquare-brings-on-liz-ritzcovan-as-chief-revenue-officer/ |access-date=19 July 2018 |work=TechCrunch |date=10 July 2018}}

On January 14, 2016, co-founder Dennis Crowley stepped down from his position as CEO. He moved to an Executive Chairman position while Jeff Glueck, the company's COO, succeeded Crowley as the new CEO.{{cite web|url= https://techcrunch.com/2016/01/14/foursquare-gets-45m-and-a-new-ceo-to-build-out-enterprise-business/ |title= Foursquare Gets $45M And A New CEO To Build Out Enterprise Business |date= 14 January 2016 | publisher= TechCrunch Internet}}{{cite web|url= http://www.cnet.com/news/foursquare-checks-in-a-new-ceo/ |title= Foursquare checks in a new CEO | publisher= cnet}}

In 2017, Foursquare announced its expansion in the Asia-Pacific region with partners like Tencent and Samsung, and a new office in Singapore.{{cite news |last1=Ho |first1=Victoria |title=Foursquare will power location tags in some of Asia's biggest messaging apps |url=https://mashable.com/2017/06/27/foursquare-asia-tencent-samsung/ |access-date=19 July 2018 |work=Mashable |date=27 June 2017}} Over the course of the three-year period from 2015 through 2017, the company's revenue grew by more than 50% each year.{{Cite news|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/40518883/25-million-people-are-totally-cool-with-giving-foursquare-always-on-location-data|title=25 million people are totally cool with giving Foursquare "always on" location data|date=2018-01-19|work=Fast Company|access-date=2018-02-08|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|url=https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/19/foursquare-is-finally-proving-its-dollar-value/|title=Foursquare is finally proving its (dollar) value|last=Crook|first=Jordan|work=TechCrunch|access-date=2018-02-08|language=en}} In early 2018, Foursquare opened a new engineering office in Chicago.{{cite news |last1=Dallke |first1=Jim |title=Foursquare Opens New Chicago Engineering Office |url=https://www.americaninno.com/chicago/inno-news-chicago/foursquare-opens-new-chicago-engineering-office/ |access-date=1 August 2018 |work=Chicago Inno |date=19 January 2018}}

In May 2019, Foursquare bought Placed from Snap Inc.{{Cite web |date=31 May 2019 |title=Foursquare buys Placed from Snap Inc. on the heels of $150M in new funding |url=https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/30/foursquare-buys-placed-from-snap-inc-on-the-heels-of-150m-in-new-funding/ |access-date=2019-05-31 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US }}

On December 6, 2019, Foursquare's Board of Directors announced the appointment of David Shim as Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board.{{Cite web|url=http://enterprise.foursquare.com/intersections/article/david-shim-takes-on-new-role-as-foursquares-ceo/|title=David Shim Takes On New Role As Foursquare's CEO - Foursquare Intersections Blog|website=enterprise.foursquare.com|language=en|access-date=2019-12-18}}

In April 2020, Foursquare announced a merger with Factual Inc. in an all-stock deal.{{Cite news|last=Patel|first=Sahil|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/foursquare-merges-with-factual-another-location-data-provider-11586193000|title=Foursquare Merges With Factual, Another Location-Data Provider|date=2020-04-06|work=Wall Street Journal|access-date=2020-04-07|language=en-US|issn=0099-9660}}{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/06/foursquare-merges-with-factual/|title=Foursquare merges with Factual|website=TechCrunch|date=6 April 2020|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-07}}

On November 5, 2020 it was announced that David Shim was stepping down as Chief Executive Officer, to be replaced by Gary Little, a member of the company's board.{{Cite news|last=Patel|first=Sahil|date=2020-11-06|title=Foursquare CEO David Shim Steps Down|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/foursquare-ceo-david-shim-steps-down-11604622997|access-date=2021-01-20|issn=0099-9660}}

On May 20, 2021, Foursquare announced an agreement to acquire Unfolded, a next-generation platform for geospatial data unification, enrichment, visualization, and analytics to help solidify the company's location, geospatial technology, and developer community. Unfolded has been renamed to Foursquare Studio. {{Cite web |title=Studio |url=https://location.foursquare.com/products/studio/ |access-date=2023-05-01 |website=Foursquare |language=en-US}}

In February 2022, Foursquare launched Hex Tiles,{{cite press release | url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220216005222/en/Foursquare-Launches-Next-Generation-Tiling-System-Enabling-Large-scale-Geospatial-Data-Analytics-Within-Minutes | title=Foursquare Launches Next-Generation Tiling System, Enabling Large-scale Geospatial Data Analytics within Minutes | date=16 February 2022 }} a tiling system that maximizes the speed and efficiency of data analytics for businesses looking to perform large-scale geospatial analytics for decision-making purposes.

In May 2023, the company launched Foursquare Graph,{{Cite web |last=Foursquare |date=2023-05-11 |title=The Industry's First Application of Graph Technology to Geospatial Data, Meet the Foursquare Graph |url=https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2023/05/11/2666759/0/en/The-Industry-s-First-Application-of-Graph-Technology-to-Geospatial-Data-Meet-the-Foursquare-Graph.html |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=GlobeNewswire News Room |language=en}} a geospatial knowledge graph designed to improve how businesses derive value from location data through the use of graph technology and the H3 grid system.

In May 2024, Foursquare laid off 105 employees, approximately 25% of its workforce.{{Cite web |last=Loizos |first=Connie |date=2024-05-24 |title=Foursquare just laid off 105 employees |url=https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/23/foursquare-just-laid-off-105-employees/ |access-date=2024-05-24 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}

Foursquare is principally funded by Union Square Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, [http://oatv.com/ O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures], DFJ Growth, Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners, Spark Capital, and more.{{cite news |last1=Panzarino |first1=Matthew |title=Foursquare Gets $45M And A New CEO To Build Out Enterprise Business |url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/01/14/foursquare-gets-45m-and-a-new-ceo-to-build-out-enterprise-business/ |access-date=21 July 2018 |work=TechCrunch |date=14 January 2016}}{{cite news |last1=Isaac |first1=Mike |title=Foursquare Raises $45 Million, Cutting Its Valuation Nearly in Half |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/15/technology/foursquare-raises-45-million-cutting-its-valuation-nearly-in-half.html |access-date=21 July 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=14 January 2016}} The company raised $1.35 million in its Series A round and $20 million in its Series B round.{{cite news| url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704846004575333222375027784 | work=The Wall Street Journal | first=Spencer E. | last=Ante | title=Foursquare Locates New Funds to Expand | date=2010-06-28}}{{cite web|author=Dan Frommer |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/foursquare-raises-13-million-from-union-square-ventures-2009-9 |title=Foursquare Raises $1.35 Million, Led By Union Square Ventures |publisher=Businessinsider.com |date=2009-09-04 |access-date=2011-04-21}} On June 24, 2011, Foursquare raised $50 million on a $600 million valuation.{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2011/06/24/foursquare-closes-50m-at-a-600m-valuation/ |title=Foursquare Closes $50M at a $600M Valuation |author=Sarah Lacy |date=24 June 2011 |access-date=24 June 2011 |publisher=TechCrunch}} Their Series D round funding of $35 million was announced on December 19, 2013 and led by DFJ Growth.{{cite news|url=http://allthingsd.com/20131219/exclusive-foursquare-raises-35-million-round-and-adds-dfjs-schuler-to-the-board/|title=Exclusive: Foursquare Raises a $35 Million Round and Adds DFJ's Schuler to the Board|last=Swisher|first=Kara|author-link=Kara Swisher|date=2013-12-19|work=AllThingsD}}

In January 2016, the company raised $45 million in a series E funding round led by Union Square Ventures. Morgan Stanley participated along with previous investors: DFJ Growth, Andreessen Horowitz and Spark Capital.{{cite news|last1=Jackson|first1=Lucas|title=Foursquare CEO steps down; company raises $45 million in funding|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-foresquare-ceo-idUSKCN0UT01M20160115|website=Reuters.com|date=15 January 2016|agency=Reuters|access-date=15 January 2016}} In October 2018, the company announced that it raised an additional $33 million in a series F funding round co-led by investors Simon Ventures and Naver, in addition to longstanding investor Union Square Ventures.{{cite news |last1=Crook |first1=Jordan |title=Foursquare picks up $33 million Series F investment |url=https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/02/foursquare-picks-up-33-million-series-f-investment/ |access-date=29 October 2018 |work=TechCrunch |issue=2 October 2018}}

{{main|Foursquare City Guide}}

Launched in March 2009, Foursquare City Guide is a local search and discovery mobile app that helps users discover new places from a community of peers. The app provides personalized recommendations of places to go near a user's current location based on the user's previous visits, likes and check-in history.{{cite magazine |last1=Gell |first1=Aaron |date=1 March 2017 |title=The Not-So-Surprising Survival of Foursquare |url=https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-not-so-surprising-survival-of-foursquare |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=20 July 2018}}

{{main|Foursquare Swarm}}

In May 2014, the company launched Foursquare Swarm, a companion app to Foursquare City Guide, which migrated the social networking and location sharing aspects of the service into a separate application. Swarm acts as a lifelogging tool for users to keep a record of the places they have been, featuring statistics on the places they have been, and a search capability to recall places where they have checked in.{{cite news |last1=Graver |first1=David |date=8 August 2017 |title=A Shift In Focus From Foursquare Swarm 5.0 |work=Cool Hunting |url=http://www.coolhunting.com/tech/foursquare-swarm-five |access-date=20 July 2018}} Swarm also lets users share where they have been with their friends, and see where their friends have been.

In August 2021, the company relaunched Rewards, previously Foursquare’s Panel App.{{cite news |last1=Boland |first1=Mike |title=Foursquare Revamps and Rebrands its Panel App |url=https://www.localogy.com/foursquare-revamps-and-rebrands-its-panel-app/ |access-date=17 May 2022 |magazine=Localology |date=13 August 2021}} The app gave users the opportunity to earn points to be redeemed for gift cards in exchange for enabling background location services. The app was sunset in May 2023.

Launched in May 2016, Marsbot was a location-aware tool that sent context-based suggestions about nearby places to eat and drink via text, tailored to users' preferences.{{Cite web |date=2016-05-24 |title=Foursquare's Marsbot will tell you where to eat or drink before you ask |url=https://venturebeat.com/mobile/foursquares-marsbot-will-tell-you-where-to-eat-or-drink-before-you-ask/ |access-date=2023-10-20 |website=VentureBeat |language=en-US}}{{Cite magazine |last=Levy |first=Steven |title=Marsbot Is Dreaming of You {{!}} Backchannel |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2016/07/marsbot-is-dreaming-of-you/ |access-date=2023-10-20 |issn=1059-1028}} In October 2020, Foursquare introduced an audio AR version for AirPods called Marsbot for AirPods, which provided location-specific guidance through users' bluetooth headphones.{{Cite web |date=2020-10-16 |title=Foursquare's Marsbot for AirPods offers location-aware audio tips |url=https://venturebeat.com/business/foursquares-marsbot-for-airpods-offers-location-aware-audio-tips/ |access-date=2023-10-20 |website=VentureBeat |language=en-US}} Marsbot was sunset in 2021.

Foursquare Graph is a knowledge graph that organizes disparate geospatial datasets to derive business insights. The use of graph technology introduced a time-aware dimension to all geospatial datasets, facilitating spatiotemporal analyses. Launched in May 2023,{{Cite web |last=Foursquare |date=2023-05-11 |title=The Industry's First Application of Graph Technology to Geospatial Data, Meet the Foursquare Graph |url=https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2023/05/11/2666759/0/en/The-Industry-s-First-Application-of-Graph-Technology-to-Geospatial-Data-Meet-the-Foursquare-Graph.html |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=GlobeNewswire News Room |language=en}} it was designed to unify Foursquare’s product suite and utilize the H3 grid system in order to minimize the time and resources necessary to extract business insights from location-based queries.

Foursquare Places is a database of venue information representing 120+ million commercial points-of-interest (POI) across 200+ countries and territories.{{Cite web |title=Places |url=https://location.foursquare.com/products/places/ |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=Foursquare |language=en-US}} Foursquare maintains the Places database and updates the data in real time through a combination of first-party data, third-party data, and its Geosummarizer ML model.{{Cite web |last=MacManus |first=Richard |date=2023-02-08 |title=How Foursquare Transformed Itself with Machine Learning |url=https://thenewstack.io/how-foursquare-transformed-itself-with-machine-learning/ |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=The New Stack |language=en-US}} The Foursquare Places API enables developers to integrate location-aware capabilities directly into their apps for services such as delivery, navigation, ride-share, and shopping.{{Cite web |last=Boland |first=Mike |date=2021-09-28 |title=Foursquare Beefs Up Places API |url=https://www.localogy.com/2021/09/foursquare-beefs-up-places-api/ |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=Localogy |language=en-US}}

Foursquare Studio is a geospatial visualization and analytics platform. Foursquare Studio allows users to join large-scale data of diverse shapes and sizes for analysis through the creation, design, and sharing of interactive maps.{{Cite web |date=2022-12-05 |title=Foursquare to Power Geospatial Data Visualization in Amazon SageMaker |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221205005657/en/Foursquare-to-Power-Geospatial-Data-Visualization-in-Amazon-SageMaker |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=www.businesswire.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Foursquare Studio |url=https://studio.foursquare.com/ |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=studio.foursquare.com}}

Hex Tiles is Foursquare’s proprietary analytical tiling system that utilizes the H3 global grid system to allow users to quickly process and unify large amounts of geospatial and temporal data for advanced analysis and exploration.{{Cite web |date=2022-02-16 |title=Foursquare Launches Next-Generation Tiling System, Enabling Large-scale Geospatial Data Analytics Within Minutes |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220216005222/en/Foursquare-Launches-Next-Generation-Tiling-System-Enabling-Large-scale-Geospatial-Data-Analytics-Within-Minutes |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=www.businesswire.com |language=en}}

First launched as Pilgrim SDK in 2011,{{Cite web |last=Chaey |first=Christina |date=2013-08-29 |title=Foursquare Now Knows Where You Are, What To Do There, Even If You Don't |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/3016555/foursquare-now-knows-where-you-are-what-to-do-there-even-if-you-dont |access-date=2023-11-01}} Movement SDK combines stop-detection and snap-to-place functions in order to provide contextual awareness to apps, using machine learning models that combine first-party GPS, Cell, Wifi, Bluetooth, Accelerometer, and time-of-day data.{{Cite web |title=Movement SDK |url=https://location.foursquare.com/products/movement-sdk/ |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=Foursquare |language=en-US}}

Foursquare holds more than 80 patents related to geolocation technology. Notable patents including the following.

This patent describes a mobile application that offers intelligent venue recommendations based on a user's location history, as well as preferences of their social network and individuals with similar tastes. {{US patent|8775351}}

A system and method for attributing in-store visits to exposure to advertisement (“ad”) impressions associated with an ad campaign are disclosed. {{US Patent|11734712}}

This patent involves generating taste data for entities within apps, where curated taste candidates are determined based on app information. User feedback is used to approve or reject candidates, generating taste data that can include descriptors and recommendations. {{US patent|10614138}}

This patent focuses on an efficient location query mechanism. By representing regions of interest with polygons and dividing them into sub-polygons, the mechanism builds an index system for quick determination of whether a given location falls within any sub-polygon, enabling rapid location-based queries. {{US patent|9753965}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Official website|https://foursquare.com}}

{{Andreessen Horowitz}}

{{Online food ordering}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foursquare (Company)}}

Category:2009 establishments in New York City

Category:Companies based in Manhattan

Category:Internet properties established in 2009

Category:Online companies of the United States

Category:Technology companies established in 2009

Category:Restaurant guides