Foursquare Is On Track To Generate ~ $20 Million In 2013, Up From $2 Million Last Year

Location exploration app Foursquare has gotten a lot of grief for being slow to generate revenue. Last year it generated a reported $2 million.

This year, Foursquare's revenue is looking much brighter, although it still has a long way to go to compete with companies like publicly-traded Yelp.

According to Fast Company's Austin Carr, Foursquare is on track to generate $15-20 million in 2013. Carr bases that figure on Foursquare investor Ben Horowitz, who recently told him that Foursquare has already generated four times last year's revenue.

Foursquare is an ad-supported business and it offers a suite of location-targeted tools to companies like Samsung and American Express. It also powers location data for popular apps like Uber, Path and Instagram, although it doesn't charge those companies.

Carr also points out that, even if Foursquare generates $20 million, it needs to be pulling in much more. In its first quarter alone, Yelp generated $46.1 million.