The Short Names

LinkedIn, the professional networking site, plans to make acquisitions to expand into mobile. The site’s CEO Jeff Weiner told Bloomberg.com (via BusinessWeek) that he wanted to make LinkedIn more accessible on mobile phones as well as add features that would make it more relevant to members.

So far, the network, which boasts 70 million members, with an average household income of $107,000 has never made an acquisition. It can, however, afford it. Two years ago, the company captured headlines after raising $76 million total in its fourth round of funding from VC’s that include Bain Capital. Weiner said the money remains in the bank, and that the company, which has a positive operating cash flow, has yet to touch it. “We don’t need the capital,” he said.

Weiner expects to start with smaller acquisitions to ensure that LinkedIn will be able to absorb its potential targets’ talent and technology. No specifics or time frame were given when these acquisitions might happen. Aside from mobile plans, LinkedIn is targeting an aggressive international roll out. It has plans to add 900 more staff to handle its rapid growth in Brazil, China and India.

We’ll be addressing some of these themes during our next conference, paidContent Mobile: Leveraging the Smartphone Boom, July 20 in New York City. You can find out more about the agenda and register at http://paidcontent.org/event/mobile2010/.