User-generated fashion mag Polyvore grabs $5.6 million
As fashion mags grapple with vanishing ad pages, user-generated fashion site Polyvore has raked in $5.6 million in a second round of funding.
Users on the site grab images of shoes, clothes and accessories from Polyvore’s library to create outfits and share them with friends — it’s like getting to be an editor in charge of a fashion spread in Vogue or Lucky. The start-up can earn a commission when users buy clothing items through the site.
The company attracts about 4 million unique users a month, who spend a nice-and-sticky average 10 minutes per session on the site.
This round of funding brings the startup’s financing to at least $8.1 million to expand its engineering and sales teams. Polyvore attracted new financing from Matrix Partners and a top-up from Benchmark Capital and Harrison Metal Capital.
The company has partnered with big apparel brands like Gap to challenge users to make up outfits with the company’s jeans.
Founded by three former Yahoo engineers, the Mountain View-based company now has six full-time employees. The company also has financial backing from LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and Epinions co-founder Nirav Tolia.
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About the Author, Kim-Mai Cutler
Kim-Mai was born and raised a stone's throw from Apple headquarters in Cupertino by a devout Hewlett-Packard family. After attending UC Berkeley, Kim-Mai worked for Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires in New York, Los Angeles, London and Buenos Aires. Follow her on Twitter at @kimmaicutler, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.