Estimated Value: $560 million
Business: Allows users to create their own social networks.
Location: Palo Alto, CA
More Info: About Ning
CEO: Gina Bianchini
Investors: Legg Mason, Gina Bianchini, Marc Andreessen
Analysis: Ning's traffic and users continue to increase steadily. Compete says it landed 1.4 million uniques in the U.S. in March. Ning now powersx over 200,000 networks and is adding more than 1,000 per day.
Ning generates revenue through traditional advertising and premium services: running ads on your social network costs $20 per month, and using your own domain name costs $5.
In April, Ning raised $60 million at a $500 million pre-money valuation. This followed a $44 million Series C round in July 2007. We estimate that the company will generate between $10 and $20 million in revenue in 2008, so the revenue multiple for the latest round obviously assumes a ballistic growth rate.