LinkedIn secures investment worth £13.9m

by Ben Bold, Brand Republic 23-Oct-08, 10:30

LONDON - Professional networking website LinkedIn has raised $22.7m (£13.9m) in funding from a number of investors including Goldman Sachs, The McGraw-Hill Companies and SAP Ventures. The sum also includes a reinvestment by Bessemer Venture Partners.

More than 30m business people have signed up as members of LinkedIn, the business equivalent of social networking sites such as Facebook.

Dan Nye, LinkedIn's chief executive, said: "We secured this investment with innovators in enterprise software, investment banking and business information, who see the potential to create value and transform industries through the LinkedIn platform.

"These leading companies understand that LinkedIn is building a network with broad and enduring value."

The relationships forged by this investment drive will enable LinkedIn to plough money into developing its technology and business model. Its agreement with The McGraw-Hill Companies, for example, will see it develop content supplied by Business Week magazine.

The financing follows a previous round of fundraising, announced in June, when the company raised $53m, led by Bain Capital Ventures.

Last month LinkedIn launched an audience network that allows advertisers to target individual users across hundreds of websites, after joining ad network Collective Media.