A startup called TrustPilot wants to bring transparency to e-commerce with its online reviews service.
Today, the Copenhagen-based company raised $25 million to expand its service to international markets. TrustPilot is currently hiring staff for its new offices in London and New York.
The company asks consumers to rate independent online retailers. On TrustPilot’s website, perform a search for one of thousands of web stores, and you’ll receive a rating and a shortlist of reviews.
The TrustPilot team will monitor reviews and delete any fake ones. In a press release, the company claims to have amassed five million reviews from its community. This growth is partially due to the fact that Trustpilot also supplies reviews to Google product search pages, where people are likely to see them.
The startup also provides a service to businesses that are looking to increase sales by highlighting their positive reviews. These customers can pay to install a TrustPilot widget, Trustbox, on their sites to collect reviews and augment sales. Trustpilot’s business customers include a variety of European online retailers and travel booking sites, such as Travelocity, Mazuma Mobile, lastminute.com, and ebookers. The company claims it is adding 2,000 business customers each month.
The series C round of financing was led by venture firm DFJ Esprit in London and DFJ in Menlo Park, Calif. Existing investors Index Ventures, Northzone, and Seed Capital participated in the round. TrustPilot was founded in 2007 and has raised over $43 million in venture funding to date.
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