Thursday, May 17, 2012

Buy.com Parent Rakuten Leads $100M Round In Pinterest

Rakuten, the Japanese e-commmerce giant which owns Aliso Viejo-based e-commerce site Buy.com, has just grabbed a stake in up-and-coming Internet sharing site Pinterest, according to reports today. Pinterest, which allows people to share pictures with their friends, comment on those pictures, and more, is expected to announced a $100M funding round, which was led by Rakuten, and also includes Andreessen Horowitz, FirstMark Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners. The Wall Street Journal reports the round values the startup at $1.5 billion. It's unclear if Rakuten will be brokering a deal for Pinterest to link with its various e-commerce sites, however, a portion of Pinterest's revenues on the site come from people "pinning" consumer products, clothing, and other items they'd like to purchase, and the site collecting affiliate fees from e-commerce sites when users click through and buy those products. More information »

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