San Francisco Business Times
Friday, May 7, 2010
Lithium Technologies, which helps companies manage online communities and other social media operations, has bought Scout Labs, a social media monitoring service, for somewhere between $20 million and $25 million, said Lithium CEO Lyle Fong.

The deal was in stock and cash, and Emeryville-based Lithium still has much of the $23 million it recently raised in venture capital available for spending, Fong said.Lithium, which has been growing rapidly, has 150 employees. Scout Labs had about 20 employees, some of whom will continue to work at its San Francisco offices.

Fong, a former professional video gamer, and his brother, Dennis “Thresh” Fong, also a famous gamer, founded Lithium in 2001. The company so far has raised about $44 million. The latest funding, raised this year, valued the company at more than $160 million. Bookings in 2009 were between $20 million and $30 million, with contracts typically lasting one to three years, Fong said.