Microsoft Coporation has formed a strategic investment partnership with US-based social media popularity grading company Klout.
Neither firms would disclose the terms or the amount invested.
Klout startup launched in 2009 in San Fracisco provides social media analytics used to measure the relative importance of a user within a social network.
The deal sees Klout results appear on the sidebar for hits returned in Microsoft’s search engine Bing, while Klout will begin incorporating data from Bing into its algorithms.
In a blog post Bing’s vice president Derrick Connell wrote: “We hope that the partnership will ultimately lead to platform enhancements that enrich the discovery and recognition of influencers on both Bing and Klout”.
Klout’s last round of funding closed in November last year. The Series C round, led by previous investor venture capital (vc) firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, raised $30m and involved the venture capital arm of the Rockefeller family, Venrock and returning vc investors Institutional Venture Partners, Greycroft Partners,and ff Venture Capital
Klout’s previous Series B and A rounds concluded in 2011 and 2010 and raised $8.5m and $1.5m respectively.