from www.news.sky.com – The micro-blogging site Twitter is near to securing a $100m funding deal – a move that would value the company at $1bn.

Despite earning little revenue so far, more than half a dozen investors are ready to pump £62m into the Californian dotcom darling, the Financial Times reports.

The figure is nearly threes times the amount of funding secured in February, when the company bagged £21.8m, quadrupling its value.

The increased investment is an indication of the soaring popularity of Twitter, which now boasts 45 million regular monthly visitors.

The FT said the new deal was due to be announced shortly.

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The Wall Street Journal reported that the incoming investor group includes mutual fund managers T Rowe Price and private equity firm Insight Venture Partners.

Existing investors supporting the plan are thought to be Spark Capital and Institutional Venture Partners.

Twitter’s fundraising is thought to have come after substantial interest from potential investors including larger media, internet and telecoms firms.

There was speculation last week that Twitter wanted to raise £31m – but it is thought the firm doubled the amount in response to the level of interest in the move.

The firm is still debating how to create revenues from its business and is thought to be mulling charging brands for extra services and has not ruled out some form of advertising.