All that Twitters is not sold......

It would appear Twitter is looking for more funding - about $ 10 - 20m apparently (Sarah Lacy reckons its getting the cash in now before the sh*t hits the Web 2.0 fan), even though there is as yet no real Business Model - apart from give free service to lots of people at the moment. Still, it has captured quite a few million people already in its social web.

I guess the bet of any VC today is to pop in the $ XX m to keep Twitter going until either (i) it finds a business model or (ii) someone buys it. I suspect case (ii) is far the more likely. Sadly, Google and eBay are probably out the frame as they have both bought things that could be Twitter competitors (Jaiku, Skype).

Its an interesting thought therefore, as to who may value it most and thus pony up for it. If I were to make an educated guess, apart from the usual suspects it would be a global mobile Telco or mobile Telco Wannabee - because Twitter, unlike so many of the other SocNet products it:

(i) Is simple enough to use on today's mobiles
(ii) Actually works on today's mobiles !

Not only that, but Twitter generates mobile and internet traffic (some of which is trans-country), and in nice, small (and relatively low cost) SMS size bits. It thus has fairly high synergies with mobile network providers who like applications that drive traffic.

It also captures users, who have social graphs that a moble service could integrate onto a 'phone and/or platform and add other forms of "value", based on user's proclivities - not to mention a useful development environment one could nurture in these Platform Service days. And its quite a sweet advertising service for an SMS style play.....

A veritable Beacon of new opportunities in fact

Microsoft, Yahoo or even Google could buy it, but they don't get those marvellous transport layer synergies that a Telco would - and a mobile Telco would get even more of it methinks.

And of course there is the cachet, as Ms Lacy puts it, of being Cool:

At any price, a stake in Twitter-- not to mention a chance to cozy up to a true Web visionary in Evan Williams-- is a steal.

(Disclosure of selfish interest - I would far rather people Twittered their banal lives to each other on trains and planes than talked on their mobile 'phones )