LinkedIn wants your business cards, acquires CardMunch

January 26, 2011 4:53 PM
Anthony Ha

Add a Comment

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

CardMunch, a startup that automatically transcribes business cards, just announced that it has been acquired by professional networking site LinkedIn.

Cofounder and chief executive Bowei Gai demonstrated the iPhone app for me around the time that it launched in August. It was an impressive demo: We lined up a stack of cards on the table, scanned each of them for just a few seconds, then started to receive the transcribed data (with only minor errors) within a minute or so.

Here’s how CardMunch describes the deal.:

Our long-term vision for CardMunch has been to help manage business contacts and help you to leverage your contacts and connections for doing business. With that in mind, we are thrilled to announce today that CardMunch is now a part of LinkedIn! LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network and as such, provides the perfect platform for us to execute the CardMunch vision.

So what does LinkedIn plan to do with CardMunch? Well, it doesn’t seem to see the app as an immediate moneymaker. CardMunch previously charged users for the transcriptions, but starting today, the app will be free. (The company says users who still have unused credits will receive more information soon.)

The obvious use is to bring more of this business card data into LinkedIn itself. Certainly, this could help LinkedIn turn into the “professional dashboard” that CEO Jeff Weiner has suggested, not just a site you visit when you’re looking for a job.

There aren’t any details yet about how CardMunch might be integrated into LinkedIn. For now, CardMunch says the app’s data is covered under the LinkedIn privacy policy and terms of service, and it says that at some point in the future CardMunch “may require users to use their LinkedIn accounts to access CardMunch”.

CardMunch was backed by K9 Ventures.

http://venturebeat.com/2011/11/15/linkedin-cardmunch-app/ New CardMunch iPhone App converts business cards into LinkedIn connections | VentureBeat

[...] is the first major upgrade of CardMunch since LinkedIn purchased the company in January 2011 for an undisclosed [...]
http://jailbake.com/blog/23421 New CardMunch iPhone App converts business cards into LinkedIn connections – JailBake

[...] in while you wait for the card to get translated.This is the first major upgrade of CardMunch since LinkedIn purchased the company in January 2011 for an undisclosed amount.The move certainly makes sense for LinkedIn because it [...]
http://onlinemagazine.pcriot.com/2011/11/new-cardmunch-iphone-app-converts-business-cards-into-linkedin-connections/ OnlineMagazine » Blog Archive » New CardMunch iPhone App converts business cards into LinkedIn connections

[...] is the first major upgrade of CardMunch since LinkedIn purchased the company in January 2011 for an undisclosed [...]
http://www.godigitalapps.com/new-cardmunch-iphone-app-converts-business-cards-into-linkedin-connections/ New CardMunch iPhone App converts business cards into LinkedIn connections « Go Digital Apps

[...] is the first major upgrade of CardMunch since LinkedIn purchased the company in January 2011 for an undisclosed [...]
http://iphone.ekji.com/2011/11/15/new-cardmunch-iphone-app-converts-business-cards-into-linkedin-connections/ Apple Iphone Tech News » Blog Archive » New CardMunch iPhone App converts business cards into LinkedIn connections

[...] is the first major upgrade of CardMunch since LinkedIn purchased the company in January 2011 for an undisclosed [...]
http://iphonenewscenter.com/new-cardmunch-iphone-app-converts-business-cards-into-linkedin-connections.html New CardMunch iPhone App converts business cards into LinkedIn connections | iPhone News Center

[...] is the first major upgrade of CardMunch since LinkedIn purchased the company in January 2011 for an undisclosed [...]
http://startups-list.com/2011/11/16/new-cardmunch-iphone-app-converts-business-cards-into-linkedin-connections/ New CardMunch iPhone App converts business cards into LinkedIn connections | Startups List

[...] is the first major upgrade of CardMunch since LinkedIn purchased the company in January 2011 for an undisclosed [...]
http://prosglobal.tv/blog/2011/11/new-cardmunch-iphone-app-converts-business-cards-into-linkedin-connections/ New CardMunch iPhone App converts business cards into LinkedIn connections

[...] is the first major upgrade of CardMunch since LinkedIn purchased the company in January 2011 for an undisclosed [...]
http://gooogle.hshiren1elvis.infiniteserve.com/?p=2783 New CardMunch iPhone App converts business cards into LinkedIn connections | My Blog

[...] is a initial vital ascent of CardMunch given LinkedIn purchased a company in Jan 2011 for an undisclosed [...]
http://eskobo.com/2011/11/15/new-cardmunch-iphone-app-converts-business-cards-into-linkedin-connections/ New CardMunch iPhone App converts business cards into LinkedIn connections | Tech News Aggregator

[...] is the first major upgrade of CardMunch since LinkedIn purchased the company in January 2011 for an undisclosed [...]
http://www.v3im.com/2012/03/linkedin-buys-rapportive-gets-more-social-connectivity/ LinkedIn Buys Rapportive, Gets More Social Connectivity | V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

[...] as part of its ongoing efforts to enhance users’ contact lists. LinkedIn previously acquired CardMunch and Connected, both of which add additional layers of social connectivity to the [...]
http://venturebeat.com/2012/12/26/world-startup-report-one-mans-quest-to-document-startup-culture-around-the-world/ World Startup Report: One man’s quest to document startup culture around the world | VentureBeat

[...] founder Bowei Gai quit his cushy job with LinkedIn two months ago. He sold his business to LinkedIn in 2011, and is only now jumping ship to travel the world and find the next Silicon Valley, along with the [...]
http://www.socialnetworkbackgroundcheck.com/world-startup-report-one-mans-quest-to-document-startup-culture-around-the-world/ World Startup Report: One man’s quest to document startup culture around the world | Social Network Background Check

[...] founder Bowei Gai quit his cushy job with LinkedIn two months ago. He sold his business to LinkedIn in 2011, and is only now jumping ship to travel the world and find the next Silicon Valley, along with the [...]
http://www.simplyboundless.com/2012/12/world-startup-report-one-mans-quest-to-document-startup-culture-around-the-world/ World Startup Report: One man’s quest to document startup culture around the world | Simply Boundless Entertainment

[...] founder Bowei Gai quit his cushy job with LinkedIn two months ago. He sold his business to LinkedIn in 2011, and is only now jumping ship to travel the world and find the next Silicon Valley, along with the [...]
http://icofounder.com/2012/12/world-startup-report-mans-quest-document-startup-culture-venturebeat/ World Startup Report: One man’s quest to document startup culture | Looking for a Cofounder?

[...] founder Bowei Gai quit his cushy job with LinkedIn two months ago. He sold his business to LinkedIn in 2011, and is only now jumping ship to travel the world and find the next Silicon Valley, along with the [...]