Liz Gannes and Kara Swisher for Re/Code:
Klout, the online popularity contest startup, is poised to be sold to social customer service company Lithium Technologies.
The deal is signed but not closed, said sources. And, while the numbers are fuzzy given they account for a mix of cash and Lithium private stock, the acquisition is “in the low nine figures” — that is, at least $100 million.
The interesting part is that Lithium Technologies is not a consumer focused company – they develop marketing tools for companies and organizations. The real money is not in developing services for consumers, but in collecting the data consumers feed the services and selling it to other companies.