Becoming popular
Social e-commerce site, The Fancy, has raised USD53m from American Express and angel investors, including actor Will Smith. The new round of funding brings the company’s total raised to just less than USD90m and its valuation to more than USD600m. The New York-based startup began life as Thing Daemon but rebranded as The Fancy after failing to gain any real traction.
The site follows Pinterest’s approach of combining image-heavy discovery and social networking with e-commerce, allowing users to upload items and bookmark merchandise they like. Products can also be purchased without leaving the site, with the company taking a cut of the payment. The startup claims to generate some USD3m in revenue each month and was last year rumoured to be the potential target of an acquisition by Apple.
The social e-commerce space is becoming increasingly popular for investors as Pinterest and others start looking at upping revenue streams after being valued at almost USD2bn.
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