Twitter Raising New Cash At $250 Million Valuation

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Michael Arrington

TechCrunch.com
Saturday, January 24, 2009; 6:54 PM

Twitter, which just recently turned down a half billion dollar acquisition offer from Facebook (albeit to be paid mostly with Facebook stock), is dipping back into the venture capital market, we've heard from a source with knowledge of the deal. They've signed a term sheet with at least one venture fund to raise a new round at a $250 million valuation. We are still gathering information on how much they're raising and from whom.

It's likely they'll raise more than the $20 million in capital they've taken in over two previous rounds. Their last round, raised in June 2008, was a $15 million raise from new investors Spark Capital and Bezos Expeditions. Union Square Ventures and Digital Garage increased their previous investment.

Rumor is Twitter hit up more than a few venture firms to pitch the $250 million valuation, and got more than one "no." But someone's bit, perhaps encouraged by Twitter's breakneck growth and the interest from Facebook. That means Twitter gets a new cash injection and time to figure out its business model at an even more leisurely pace.

Update: We've heard from two sources the venture firm that signed the term sheet is IVP.