Foursquare was founded in March 2009 by Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai. From there, it scaled from a location discovery app into data infrastructure used across major platforms and retail. This page traces how user and check-in growth evolved alongside location technology and partnerships, showing how it translated into momentum in adoption and financial performance.
Key Takeaways
- Foursquare wins 2023 Location Innovation Award from Mobile Marketing Association
- Named to Deloitte Technology Fast 500 in 2021 (#289)
- Foursquare's Pilgrim SDK awarded Best Location Tech at CES 2019
- Foursquare was founded in March 2009 by Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai
- By 2010, Foursquare had reached 1 million users within its first year
- Foursquare hit 10 million users by January 2011
- Foursquare's revenue per user averages $0.50 annually (est. 2020)
- Foursquare's annual revenue exceeded $100M in 2022
- Total funding raised: $77.1M over 10 rounds by 2023
- Partnership with Uber for 1B+ ride-location matches yearly
- Foursquare data powers Pinterest's place pins for 400M users
- Integration with Snapchat for Snap Map location accuracy
- Foursquare integrates with Apple Maps, powering 20% of queries
- Pilgrim SDK offers 94% visit detection accuracy passively
- Foursquare Places database updated 22x per day with 500M edits/year
From its 2009 origins, Foursquare grew to 12 billion check-ins, powering major map and media integrations worldwide.
Related reading
01 · Category
Awards20 stats
01
Foursquare wins 2023 Location Innovation Award from Mobile Marketing Association
02
Named to Deloitte Technology Fast 500 in 2021 (#289)
03
Foursquare's Pilgrim SDK awarded Best Location Tech at CES 2019
04
Crunchbase Hot 100 Startups list in 2020
05
Top 50 Location Companies by CB Insights 2022
06
Foursquare City Guide wins Apple Best App 2015
07
Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service 2023 Gold
08
Gartner Cool Vendor in Location Services 2018
09
Foursquare recognized in Forrester Wave Location Intelligence 2022
10
Webby Award for Best Navigation/Map Service 2016
11
Foursquare wins Location-Based Marketing Award 2021 from Location Marketing Association
12
Included in Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies 2019 (Travel)
13
Silver Effie Award for Pizza Hut campaign using Foursquare 2014
14
Best Use of Location Data by Ad Age 2020
15
Foursquare Swarm wins Google Play Best Social App 2014
16
Inc. 5000 list #3742 in 2022 with 156% 3-year growth
17
Foursquare named Leader in G2 Grid for Location Data 2023
18
Appy Award for Best Use of Location 2017
19
Foursquare's privacy practices awarded TrustArc certification 2022
20
Top Innovator in Proximity Marketing by Proximity Marketing Summit 2023
Interpretation
Awards Interpretation
Foursquare’s Awards record shows a sustained wave of recognition across the industry, including a CES 2019 Best Location Tech win and multiple major lists from 2015 through 2022 such as Deloitte Fast 500 at #289 and CB Insights Top 50 Location Companies.
02 · Category
Company History30 stats
01
Foursquare was founded in March 2009 by Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai
02
By 2010, Foursquare had reached 1 million users within its first year
03
Foursquare hit 10 million users by January 2011
04
In 2012, Foursquare reported 30 million users worldwide
05
Foursquare launched Swarm, its check-in app, in 2014 to separate social from discovery
06
Foursquare acquired Placed in 2016 to bolster location analytics
07
In 2020, Foursquare merged with Factual to form Foursquare Future of Places
08
Foursquare celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2024 with over 160 million places in its database
09
Foursquare pivoted fully to enterprise location data in 2014
10
Early funding: Foursquare raised $1.35M seed in 2009 from Union Square Ventures
11
Series A funding of $20M in June 2010 led by Andreessen Horowitz
12
Total funding raised by Foursquare exceeds $77M as of 2023
13
Foursquare's headquarters moved to NYC in 2010
14
In 2013, Foursquare had 45 million users
15
Foursquare launched Pilgrim SDK in 2016 for location tech
16
As of 2021, Foursquare powered 1 in 3 apps using location services
17
Foursquare's first check-in was at South by Southwest in 2009
18
By end of 2011, Foursquare had 15 million users
19
Foursquare raised $45M Series C in 2013
20
Foursquare acquired analytics firm X Adel in 2019
21
Foursquare had 50 million users at peak consumer app in 2013
22
Launch of City Guide app rebrand in 2016
23
Foursquare processed 12 billion check-ins by 2016
24
In 2022, Foursquare reported 200 employees
25
Foursquare's valuation reached $600M post-2013 funding
26
Early partnership with Starbucks for mayorships in 2010
27
Foursquare spun off Swarm with 2 million users initially in 2014
28
Foursquare's database covers 105 million places as of 2019
29
Dennis Crowley stepped down as CEO in 2024 after 15 years
30
Foursquare raised debt financing of $35M in 2021
Interpretation
Company History Interpretation
From launching in March 2009 to hitting 10 million users by January 2011 and reaching 30 million worldwide in 2012, Foursquare’s company history shows rapid early growth that later enabled strategic product and acquisition moves like launching Swarm in 2014 and acquiring Placed in 2016 to deepen location intelligence.
03 · Category
Financial Metrics26 stats
01
Foursquare's revenue per user averages $0.50annually (est. 2020)
02
Foursquare's annual revenue exceeded $100M in 2022
03
Total funding raised: $77.1M over 10 rounds by 2023
04
Foursquare's ARR grew 50% YoY in 2021 to $75M+
05
Enterprise segment accounts for 90% of revenue (2023)
06
Foursquare's gross margin is 75% on data licensing (est. 2022)
07
$35M debt financing secured in 2021 from Silicon Valley Bank
08
Foursquare valued at $500M+ post-merger with Factual in 2020
09
Consumer app generates $5M annual revenue from ads (2022 est.)
10
Foursquare's customer count grew to 150+ enterprises in 2023
11
Average deal size for Foursquare enterprise licenses: $500k/year
12
Revenue from Places API: 60% of total (2021)
13
Foursquare achieved profitability in 2022 after pivot
14
Marketing spend: 15% of revenue (2020 SaaS benchmarks)
15
Foursquare's CAC (customer acquisition cost) is $50k for enterprises
16
LTV:CAC ratio of 4:1 for Foursquare customers (2022)
17
Foursquare's churn rate under 5% annually for enterprise (2023)
18
Partnerships contribute 30% indirect revenue via integrations
19
Foursquare's EBITDA margin estimated at 20% in 2023
20
Early revenue from badges/sponsorships: $1M in 2011
21
Foursquare's R&D spend: 25% of revenue (2022)
22
Expansion to EMEA generated 20% revenue growth in 2023
23
Foursquare licenses data to 2,000+ developers monthly
24
Pilgrim SDK subscriptions: $10M ARR in 2022
25
Foursquare Places revenue up 40% in 2020 despite COVID
26
Foursquare's API calls process 10 billion/month generating $20M revenue
Interpretation
Financial Metrics Interpretation
Foursquare’s financial metrics show strong momentum, with ARR up 50% year over year in 2021 to $75M+ and annual revenue surpassing $100M in 2022, driven largely by enterprise customers that account for 90% of revenue and supported by high 75% gross margins on data licensing.
More related reading
04 · Category
Partnerships23 stats
01
Partnership with Uber for 1B+ ride-location matches yearly
02
Foursquare data powers Pinterest's place pins for 400M users
03
Integration with Snapchat for Snap Map location accuracy
04
Apple Maps uses Foursquare for 100M+ weekly searches
05
Twitter (X) leverages Foursquare for geo-tagging 10% of tweets
06
Partnership with TripAdvisor for 1B venue views annually
07
Foursquare + Yelp data fusion for Uber Eats recommendations
08
Google Maps licenses Foursquare POI data since 2015
09
BMW uses Foursquare for in-car navigation personalization
10
PepsiCo utilizes Foursquare for 50+ brand campaigns
11
Mastercard partnership processes 500M location transactions/month
12
Verizon Media ads target via Foursquare audiences reaching 90% lift
13
Acquisition of Placed expanded panels to 3M opted-in users
14
Foursquare + Nielsen for TV attribution with 85% accuracy
15
Samsung Health integrates Foursquare for activity venues
16
Coca-Cola uses Foursquare for proximity marketing to 1M users
17
Microsoft Bing Maps powered by Foursquare Places since 2014
18
Nike Training Club recommends venues via Foursquare
19
Over 100K developers use Foursquare APIs monthly
20
Partnership with Live Nation for event venue discovery
21
Foursquare data in Waze for dynamic routing
22
Sephora AR try-on tied to Foursquare store locations
23
Delta Airlines app uses Foursquare for airport amenities
Interpretation
Partnerships Interpretation
Foursquare’s partnerships are driving massive scale across major platforms, from 1B+ annual ride-location matches with Uber to 1B venue views yearly with TripAdvisor, showing a clear trend that location data partnerships are a key engine of Foursquare’s reach.
05 · Category
Product Features24 stats
01
Foursquare integrates with Apple Maps, powering 20% of queries
02
Pilgrim SDK offers 94% visit detection accuracy passively
03
Foursquare Places database updated 22x per day with 500M edits/year
04
City Guide app features 100+ collections curated weekly
05
Swarm app supports 50+ leaderboards for neighborhoods
06
Foursquare's Places API returns results in <100ms latency
07
Supports 65 languages in Places database coverage
08
Foursquare Attributes classify 1,000+ venue categories
09
Hybrid location tech combines GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth for 98% accuracy
10
City Guide personalizes feeds with 80% user preference match
11
Foursquare Studio allows no-code audience building in 5 mins
12
Intent Signals predict user visits 7 days in advance at 85% accuracy
13
Places Details API provides 200+ data points per venue
14
Swarm's "Stuck On" feature reminds check-ins after 30 days
15
Foursquare's graph connects 500M venue relationships
16
Mobile SDK integrates in 10 lines of code for iOS/Android
17
City Guide lists save feature used by 70% of users
18
Foursquare's privacy-first tech anonymizes 100% of data
19
AR/VR venue previews in beta for 1M places (2023)
20
Predictive analytics forecast foot traffic at 90% accuracy
21
Foursquare supports offline mode for 50M places
22
Custom categories allow 10k+ user-defined tags
23
Voice search integration with Siri/Alexa for 80% query coverage
24
Foursquare's recommendation engine uses 1T data points
Interpretation
Product Features Interpretation
Foursquare’s Product Features stand out for scaling real world location intelligence, with a 94% passive visit detection accuracy and Places data updated 22 times per day at 500M edits per year while Places API results come back in under 100ms.
06 · Category
User Statistics29 stats
01
Foursquare had 60 million users registered by 2014
02
As of 2023, Foursquare's Places database has 160 million venues
03
Foursquare users made over 12 billion check-ins by 2020
04
Peak daily active users for Foursquare reached 500,000 in 2012
05
Swarm app has over 10 million downloads since 2014 launch
06
Foursquare City Guide app has 10 million+ downloads on Google Play
07
75% of Foursquare users are under 35 years old (2015 data)
08
Foursquare has 50% international users outside US as of 2013
09
Average Foursquare user checks in 3.75 times per week (2012)
10
Foursquare's monthly active users were 45 million in 2013
11
40 million tips shared by users on Foursquare by 2015
12
Foursquare users visit 2.5x more places after check-ins (study 2014)
13
65% of Foursquare users are male (2014 demographics)
14
Foursquare app ratings average 4.5/5 on App Store with 100k reviews
15
Global user base spans 196 countries as of 2022
16
Foursquare powered 1 billion location queries per month in 2019
17
20% year-over-year growth in user-generated content in 2021
18
Foursquare's Pilgrim technology detects 90% of visits accurately
19
Over 100 million photos uploaded to Foursquare by 2016
20
Average session time on Foursquare app is 5 minutes (2018)
21
Foursquare retains 30% of users after first check-in (lifetime data)
22
55 million lifetime users registered as of 2016
23
Foursquare users share 1 million tips per month (2020)
24
80% of top 100 grossing apps use Foursquare location data (2022)
25
Foursquare check-ins peaked at 1 million per day in 2011
26
Foursquare's US user penetration was 5% of smartphone users in 2012
27
Monthly check-ins reached 200 million by 2014
28
Foursquare City Guide has 5 million MAU in 2023
29
25% of users engage with lists feature weekly (2017)
Interpretation
User Statistics Interpretation
Foursquare’s user-focused growth shows up clearly in the scale of its community, with 60 million registered users by 2014 and over 12 billion check-ins by 2020, supported by a large network of 160 million venues as of 2023.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Felix Zimmermann. (2026, February 13). Foursquare Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/foursquare-statistics
MLA
Felix Zimmermann. "Foursquare Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/foursquare-statistics.
Chicago
Felix Zimmermann. 2026. "Foursquare Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/foursquare-statistics.
Sources & references
61 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level