Klout is reportedly being acquired by the social marketing company Lithium Technologies. Sources tell Re/code that the deal is in the “low nine figures” for the company that help tells users how influential they are.
Over the past few years, Lithium has acquired multiple social companies, including social content-filtering service Kelbi Technologies in 2009, Scout Labs back in 2010 for $20 million, and social customer care platform Social Dynamx in 2012. Adding an influence measurement into the mix could be an wanted feature for enterprise users.
Klout is already integrated into multiple enterprise services, including Salesforce, Hootsuite, and Microsoft’s Yammer. But what Lithium Technologies may find appealing is the connection Klout has with Bing’s real-time data feed, thanks to the company’s partnership with Microsoft. Of course, let’s not forget the 15 billion pieces of data that Klout consumes every day — that must be also appealing for Lithium, or any other company.
Some may view this acquisition as a blessing for Klout, which has spent much of its company life defending itself from criticism that its influence score wasn’t relevant. However, it has been making strides to improve its service and last week rolled out a new version that shifts away from just displaying a score by encouraging users to post original content.
The news also comes at a point when Klout is about to become profitable. Company CEO Joe Fernandez said that all of its revenue comes from enterprise customers interested in giving away perks or using its interface to find out who’s influential in their space.
If the reports are true, then it would mark the first time a social influence measurement company made a successful exit. Among Klout’s competitors include Kred/PeopleBrowsr, PeerIndex, and Twitter Grader.
In terms of funding, Klout has raised $40 million in venture capital, backed by Mayfield Fund, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Microsoft, Venrock Capital, CrunchFund, and many other investors.
We’ve reached out to Klout for comment and will update this if we hear back.
Update: Fernandez declined to comment on the report.
Photo credit: Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images
