Foursquare funding, Amex deal hint at where local is heading

Foursquare, the location-aware app that encourages users to "check in" to locations has received another $50 million in funding, it announced June 24.

The new round was led by Andreessen-Horowitz — a supporter of Facebook, Skype and Twitter, among other brands — Spartk Capital and current VC investors O'Reilly AlphTech Ventures and Union Square Ventures.

"Having our current investors double down on us is a tremendous gesture of support for Foursquare and for the direction we're headed," company co-founders Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai blogged, sharing the big news.

In addition to hiring more engineers in New York and San Francisco and trying " a ton of new things," where the company's headed appears to be toward new merchant partnerships, as evidenced by the relationship it announced with American Express last week. While it's certainly a service to make clear the individuals most often holding up the bar at a given establishment, such dedication will soon be better rewarded.

The American Express partnership, for example, will enable Foursquare users to link their profiles to their Amex cards and then — with no coupons or additional effort from the user or a cashier — to receive deals from participating businesses.

As of June 23, H&M, the Sports Authority and the Union Square Hospitality Group were on board. Spend $75 at H&M, pay with a Foursquare-registered Amex and get $10 back. Dig into $100 worth of BBQ at the USHG restaurant Blue Smoke, and get $15 back.

Foursquare reportedly isn't seeing any financial benefits from the Amex partnership, but with deal it gets to show it's growing up and evolving, gains additional credibility by holding hands with a highly trusted brand and — in offering tangible benefits — is sure to grow its user base. Which, actually, it hasn't had the worst time doing, even without the offer of financial incentives.

"In the last year," wrote Crowley and Selvadurai, Foursquare has grown "from 15 employees to over 70, and our community has grown from under 1 million to over 10 million. The opportunity to build something meaningful in the location space is HUGE, and we feel well-positioned to capitalize on it."