Yelp has raised a fourth round of financing ($15 million) and is opening a New York office. TechCrunch recounts the history of financing and makes the claim that the valuation is now somewhere around $200 million.
Yelp’s success is about its “personality” and “transparency.” The site has managed to create a brand as a result of offering content that people have come to value and trust.
This brand identity is what now lifts it above many or most of its competitors.
The medium-term question is: “who will buy Yelp?” An acquisition is all-but inevitable (I wouldn’t foresee a public offering). The challenge with a valuation like that is that many of the would-be buyers either in the YP or newspaper industry are really suffering at the hands of both the economy and the public markets.
What do you think?
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Here’s an interesting post from Marchex’s Matt McGee on reciprocal linking between Yelp and Yahoo!
Screenwerk 
February 27, 2008 at 4:31 pm
They will probably be acquired, I agree – but there is plenty of room for growth before that happens.
February 27, 2008 at 4:39 pm
what kind of growth? in reviews? uniques? last time i checked sustainability meant something.
the post on TC was updated with revenues for Yelp: “rumored to be sub $10 million/year.” i’m sure opinions about this fall in two camps: a) revenue doesn’t matter, they’ll be acquired by an IYP/FIM/facebook (provocative?) or b) they are building a foundation to run their own sales channel, complete with 100s (or more?) of sales reps. While (b) is extremely painful and costly, it works for the yellow pages. (A) i think depends on how much one is a believer in web 2.0 “the money will follow…”
February 27, 2008 at 7:47 pm
i agree… i would think that Yelp is seeking acquisition… going public on $10 mil per year rev and $200 mil valuation casts some doubts.
February 28, 2008 at 5:52 am
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