Location Data Firms Factual and Foursquare to Merge

Location data providers Factual and Foursquare are merging, to create what the former's founder and CEO Gil Elbaz says is the number one independent leader in location-based technology and data. Terms have not been disclosed.

Factual, which raised $42m in investment funding in 2018, offers a product called Geopulse Audience, which helps build defined audience segments, spanning demographic, geographic, behavioral and brand affinities; while its Geopulse Proximity tool provides location-based targeting techniques such as 'geofencing' and 'geoconquesting', to deliver ads to mobile users. Foursquare's location intelligence technology helps brands to locate, message and measure their own consumers, and its ad tools enable marketers to target audiences while measuring footfall at specific locations. Last year, Foursquare acquired rival technology provider Placed, which tracks the places people visit in the real world, for use by app developers.

The merger of Factual and Foursquare creates datasets spanning more than 500 million devices worldwide; a panel of 25 million opted-in users; and more than 105 million points of interest across 190 countries and 50 territories. In addition, the combination generates more than $150m in revenue, in more than twenty global markets David Shim will remain as Foursquare's CEO, and Elbaz will join Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley in serving on the executive team and Board.

Commenting on the news, Elbaz said: 'This combination establishes the standard in location for the next decade, allowing our clients to accelerate the adoption of location technology as a must have in their day to day business operations. Together we'll offer customers a united product portfolio that will enable companies to tap into data and insights that optimize their marketing and business decisions, while continuing to serve as outspoken leaders calling for the responsible collection and use of data'.

Web sites: www.factual.com and www.foursquare.com .