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About time! LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, has announced over 19 million members can now access a LinkedIn web application via mobile devices with Internet browsers like iPhone and iPod touch, Blackberry, and other web-enabled wireless phones.

“Let’s face it, every professional today is carrying a wireless device,” said Dan Nye, LinkedIn CEO. “Many of these professionals are on the move, attending conferences, sales meetings and client events. Making LinkedIn available on mobile devices responds to both these business realities and will be great for our users.”

There were more than 405 million mobile Internet users worldwide in 2007, with that number projected to grow to 489 million this year, according to eMarketer.com, a market research resource for Internet and emerging technologies. And industry analysts including Standard and Poor’s conclude that the phenomenon of online social networking has gone mobile and is one of the key applications driving mobile Internet usage.

LinkedIn members can utilize the LinkedIn network on their mobile devices by logging into the web app at m.linkedin.com. This release is a beta product with the final version expected later this spring. The beta is available immediately in English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese with additional languages to follow

LinkedIn members will be able to immediately take advantage of the following LinkedIn features on their mobile devices

 

• Search LinkedIn profiles including photos and bio information to help recall and connect with business acquaintances at events and conferences
• Research the mutual contacts they have with other professionals to help make real world introductions easier
• Invitation capability to connect on LinkedIn anywhere
• Network update capabilities to receive important updates about your connections while on the go

       

Tags: LinkedIn

Great blog post by Loic Le Meur, Founder of Seesmic, explaining how he formed the company and raised his intial investment. what’s that old adage? - Oh yes - ‘ its not what you know, it is who you know’.

I closed the initial funding of Seesmic in September 2007. The main investment came from Atomico’s Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis (they invested $5.5 million on the $6 million). Talking to bloggers all the time, I have not been very good at keeping the secret as Om Malik was the first to talk about it on October 8, 2007. On November 28, Liz Gannes got almost the entire list of investors right. We have never really hidden the funding as a partial investor list was even on our company backgrounder at the last Demo conference (by the way see our DEMO video if you want to learn about Seesmic in 6 minutes). So the only real news today is the full list of investors.

We should have made it “officially” public for a while but I did not want to do it until all the paperwork was done and signed. That happened last week. Getting 14 investors on board – most of whom are individuals and not through funds - takes time.

Niklas Zennstrom and I have been friends for years and we have been wanting to launch a project together for a while. We both know that the media that has not really changed since the growth of the Internet is TV. Most of our friends do not watch TV anymore or watch it only with a laptop on their knees. TV will totally change in the future, we all know that. While Niklas and Janus are focusing on the high end video content with Joost, I have always been fascinated by the conversations.

I explained to Niklas that for me, the quality of conversations that I have enjoyed on blogs and social software since 2003 had to happen in video and that simply isn’t happening yet. I said I wanted to make this happen and make it my next company and Niklas immediately [Read more]

Tags: AOL, Goldman Sachs, Google, IPRO, Joost, LinkedIn, Pulver, Seesmic, Skype, SofTech VC, SupportSoft, TechCrunch, Topica

The business social networking site LinkedIn has appointed a European managing director, heralding a new wave of European expansion.

LinkedIn said Kevin Eyres, the former general manager of search engine Alta Vista, will head its European service from a new office in London. The company is already recruiting six more staff in sales, marketing and business development. However, technical development will remain based at the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, California.

LinkedIn has been benefiting from the growth of interest in social networking sites, along with rival services Facebook, Bebo and MySpace, but offers a more niche service for professionals that it hopes will tap into a more lucrative business demographic. Eyres said LinkedIn’s strategy would be to target each country in Europe individually, with localised versions of the service under development.

LinkedIn now has 5 million users in Europe. It has big plans for growth in 2008 and will concentrate on the 25% of the population that fits its target demographic. Industry commentators have been predicting that LinkedIn will be bought by a major media firm, with some tipping Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation as a potential buyer.

About

LinkedIn is an online network of more than 13 million experienced professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries.

When you join, you create a profile that summarizes your professional accomplishments. Your profile helps you find and be found by former colleagues, clients, and partners. You can add more connections by inviting trusted contacts to join LinkedIn and connect to you.

Your network consists of your connections, your connections’ connections, and the people they know, linking you to thousands of qualified professionals.

Investors: Sequoia Capital, Greylock Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, European Founders Fund.

Story 

Tags: Alta Vista, Bessemer Venture Partners, European Founders Fund, Greylock Partners, LinkedIn, News corp, Sequoia Capital

Reports that the Samwer brothers have taken an undisclosed stake in Facebook have got the population of the entire world wondering what it is they know that the rest of us don’t. This may be a gross exaggeration on my part, maybe its just me wondering and everyone else can see it. But as a true non-believer - someone who just does not get Facebook - it looks like the ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’ to me - a duff investment following hot on the heels of Microsoft.

Some may argue that its a case of too much money on the part of Alexander, Oliver and Marc? Others may say that their investments in LinkedIn, HomeAway, ReachLocal and MFG.com doesn’t occupy enough of their time? Or maybe they are dabbling in a little spread betting? Or perhaps they are gathering knowledge for future investments? I guess we may never know what they were thinking. However one thing I am sure we could all agree on is that the brothers will have to wait a long, long time to get their money back - if they ever do. [Read more]

Tags: Bebo, Facebook, HomeAway, LinkedIn, MFG.com, Microsoft, MySpace

Plaxo, the social network cum contact manager site, is reportedly on the market for $100million. The Californian company founded mid 2001 has raised around $30million of investment to date but has been eclipsed by Facebook and LinkedIn. Claiming 15million users, although just how many of these are active is questionable, it will no doubt reignite the debate on ‘new-media tech’ valuations. Yet again, the ‘profit’ appears to come from exit strategies relying on fools with a high concentration of greed genes operating in an overhyped market generating oversized valuations. Does the tech market solely revolve around expectations and exits or can anyone turn Web2.0 into a real business?

Revolution Partners are managing the sale. Current Plaxo Investors include Globespan Capital Partners, Sequoia Capital, Cisco Systems, Duff Ackerman & Goodrich.

http://www.plaxo.com/

Tags: Cisco Systems, Duff Ackerman & Goodrich, Facebook, Globespan Capital Partners, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Revolution Partners, Sequoia Capital