Foursquare buys location analytics service Placed from Snap, raises $150M led by Raine Group; Placed reportedly raised $13.4M before Snap acquired it in 2017
Foursquare just made its first acquisition. The location tech company has acquired Placed from Snap Inc on the heels …
Context & Ripple Effects
Foursquare has spent two years rebuilding itself as a location data provider since its consumer-to-enterprise pivot, capped by a $33M Series F last October. Buying Placed is its first acquisition, funded by a fresh $150M round led by Raine Group.
The asset has a short, expensive history: Snap bought Placed in 2017 — sources pegged it at $200M+, and an SEC filing later showed $135M in cash — only to sell it back into the market two years on. Placed reportedly raised just $13.4M before that exit, making it one of the cleaner outcomes among Snap's 2017 shopping spree alongside Zenly.
First-order effects
- Snap exits the location measurement business entirely, unwinding a core piece of its 2017 ad-tech buildout, while Foursquare gains Placed's store-visit attribution tooling and its advertiser relationships on day one.
Second-order effects
- Rival location-data firms face a better-capitalized Foursquare with an expanded measurement stack, pressuring them toward their own consolidation or pricing concessions in attribution contracts with brands and agencies.
Third-order effects
- The pattern holds through what came next: within a year Foursquare moved to merge with Factual in an all-stock deal combining two players reporting $150M+ in combined 2019 revenue — location intelligence consolidating around fewer, larger independent platforms as big platforms like Snap retreat from owning the capability.
The trend: Location analytics is consolidating around dedicated independents like Foursquare, while consumer platforms that bought in during the 2017 ad-tech land grab are divesting those assets.