Fast-growing social-media phenomenon Twitter has raised US$35m in funding from two major Silicon Valley venture capital firms.
Benchmark Capital and Institutional Venture Partners led a US$35m funding round, with Benchmark’s Peter Fenton joining the Twitter board.
It is understood that Twitter last year rejected a takeover offer from Facebook that would have valued it at US$500m.
Reports in recent weeks suggested the firm was seeking investment from venture capitalists that would have valued it at US$250m – suggesting the Twitter team had no intention of being acquired.
According to Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, the mini-blog service has seen a 900pc increase in use in the past year.
By John Kennedy
