LinkedIn valued at $1 billion

LinkedIn has raised $53 million from investors in its fourth round of financing, giving the company an estimated valuation of just over $1 billion.

LinkedIn, which is five-years-old, has so far raised more than $80 million, according to its chief executive Dan Nye.

He claims the network, which currently has 23 million members and is adding 1.2 million new members every month, will have more than 30 million people by the end of 2008, with one million in the UK. Most of those, according to Nye, are around 41 years old with an income of around £50,000.

Nye says company will use the funds to build its business further and introduce new features, including several foreign languages versions. He also hinted that acquisitions are a distinct possibility. However, he says LinkedIn, which is profitable and generates revenue from advertising and premium subscriptions, has no plans to go public, and neither is it looking to get acquired.

A handful of web start-ups have recently secured high valuations. Last year, Microsoft invested $240 million in Facebook, valuing the social network at $15 billion. This January, Slide, a start-up that lets people create photographic slide shows for social networks, raised $50 million from institutional investors in a round that valued the company at $500 million.

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