LinkedIn Reaches 10 Million Members In India

The world's largest professional social network LinkedIn that went public few weeks ago and is valued at $6.2 billion, draws as many as one in every ten of its global members from India. LinkedIn said on Monday that it has more than ten million members in India out of more than 100 million members globally. That does not necessarily mean LinkedIn's Indian operations that started just around two years ago is valued at $600 million. But it clearly shows India is a critical market for the global giant's perceived value for investors.

LinkedIn started its India operations in 2009 and also established a local leadership team to drive the company's Marketing Solutions and Corporate Solutions businesses. LinkedIn India is headquartered in Mumbai and has offices in Gurgaon and Bengaluru.

"We have focused our efforts on creating a great user experience for our members. As our members here continue to use LinkedIn, we are committed to being the exchange which connects talent to opportunity in India." said Hari V. Krishnan, country manager of LinkedIn India.

Founded in 2003, LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network on the Internet and includes executives from every Fortune 500 company. The company's revenues come from member subscriptions, marketing solutions and hiring solutions. LinkedIn's headquarter is in the Silicon Valley, Northern California US and the company also has offices across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

A number of brands in India, including Volkswagen, Jet Airways, CNN, ICICI Lombard and HopSim use LinkedIn's marketing solutions to target advertising campaigns at professionals. LinkedIn's suite of corporate solutions has helped recruiters from blue chip companies like ING Vysya Bank, Genpact and HCL. The top 10 industries on LinkedIn India are information technology and services, computer software, telecommunications, financial services, education management, banking, automotive, pharmaceuticals, electronics and accounting.

Earlier this year, news of security vulnerability in the LinkedIn site had surfaced; just days after the LinkedIn Corp went public. The company had also launched the beta of LinkedIn Today, a product that surfaces the top headlines and stories being shared the most across multiple industries by LinkedIn's network of members.

On the first day of trade on the New York Stock Exchange, the shares of LinkedIn had risen as much as 171 per cent and had closed at $94.25, more than 109 per cent above the $45 IPO price. The stock price has slid since then and last traded at $65.53 a share at NYSE on Friday.