Uber and Foursquare get ‘Button’ed up

Foursquare, Uber and Button are joining together to incorporate the latter’s button function into an app. That button would in turn be a Foursquare feature, allowing users to call an Uber ride.

TechCrunch reported Monday (June 1) that the Button feature would entice Foursquare app users – upon searching for restaurants or leisure destinations – to hit the button, call a ride, and head directly to the chosen site.

Button, which already partners with Uber, has raised $14.3 million since beginning operations in 2013. In a series of funding rounds, led in part by Redpoint Ventures, and a consortium of other financiers including former NBA Commissioner David Stern. The financing has been earmarked to expand staff, many of whom have thus far come from payment processing companies ranging from Google Wallet, Braintree and PayPal. The company is setting its staffing sights on bringing data scientists on board, in an effort to beef up Button’s recommendation engine capabilities.

Under its revenue model, the company takes a percentage of sales made across its commerce platform, known as DeepLink. In addition, the company’s partners get a commission for helping garner new business for other on-demand services. The platform links disparate apps across a smartphone, and though it isn’t an on-demand service itself, Button links other services, among them its original partner, Uber, WunWun, Drizly, Tablelist and a host of others.

TechCrunch noted that the deal with Foursquare and Uber marks its initial appearance on Android.

Users without the Uber app installed, who are using Foursquare, are eligible for a discount on their first ride – and will also get a prompt to download the Uber app itself. For those users who do indeed have the app, the only option to choose will be the car type — an Uber X, for example, or SUV.

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