The archive · Consumer Apps · Financial decision · 2015
Pinterest pushed lifetime funding past $1B with a $367M Series G at an $11B valuation
In March 2015 Pinterest confirmed an $11B valuation and a Series G already at $367M of a $578M target, crossing $1B raised since 2009.
What the business is
Pinterest runs a visual discovery service where people save images to boards to plan projects and purchases; launched in 2009, it had raised $764M across angel through Series F rounds before the Series G reported in March 2015.
Starting capital：$367M already raised of a $578M Series G target as of 2015-03-16, with another $211M still open; the company confirmed an $11B valuation, and TechCrunch noted total funding would pass $1B once the round closed.
How it started
Pinterest launched in 2009. According to the Crunchbase timeline in the TechCrunch article it raised a $500k angel round in January 2010, then $10M in May 2011, $27M in October 2011, $100M in May 2012, $200M in February 2013, $225M in October 2013 and $200M in May 2014 - $764M in all before the Series G. Commenters on Hacker News described a service where users accumulate value by building boards over years, which they contrasted with the text bookmarks of del.icio.us.
What happened
On 2015-03-16 TechCrunch reported that a just-released SEC filing showed Pinterest raising over half a billion dollars: $367M was already in and the company was open to another $211M, for a possible Series G of $577,916,906. Pinterest confirmed to TechCrunch that its valuation now sat at $11B and said the round would fuel international expansion. The filing drew a Hacker News thread the same day in which commenters calculated the round sold roughly 3.3% of the company, asked how much founders still owned after seven rounds, called the $11B valuation insane or argued that purchase-intent usage justified it, and questioned whether there was depth behind the surface of a pre-profit unicorn.
No ending yet — it is still running.
Background
Pinterest is a visual discovery service where people save images to boards to plan projects and purchases. Launched in 2009, it had raised $764M before 2015 - a $500k angel in January 2010 followed by Series A through F of $10M, $27M, $100M, $200M, $225M and $200M between May 2011 and May 2014, according to the Crunchbase timeline in TechCrunch's article.
On 2015-03-16 TechCrunch reported that a just-released SEC filing showed Pinterest raising over half a billion dollars: $367M already in and room for another $211M, for a possible Series G of $577,916,906. Pinterest confirmed its valuation at $11B and said the money would fuel international expansion. Since total funding was $764M before the round, TechCrunch noted the company would pass the $1B mark once the round closed.
The raise hit Hacker News the same day and drew 109 points and 111 comments. Commenters debated whether the $11B valuation was insane or justified: some calculated the round gave away roughly 3.3% of the company and asked how much founders still owned, while supporters argued visual bookmarks accumulate value and users arrive with purchase intent, unlike the text bookmarks of del.icio.us. The discussion recorded no later milestones, so the entry stops at the announcement.
What has to be true
- Visual bookmarking accumulates value: users build boards over years, creating switching costs and network effects that text bookmarks like del.icio.us never achieved.
- Pinterest's audience arrives planning purchases, which commenters called the strongest foundation for the monetization story behind an $11B valuation.
- International expansion was the stated use of the capital - the same playbook of raising ever-bigger rounds at ever-higher valuations to keep growth ahead of profit.
- Skeptics questioned raising a third of a billion dollars this late without a proven model, asking whether there was depth behind the surface.
- The mechanics of the round, $367M already in with $211M still open, showed investor demand was real even while the public debate stayed unsettled.
What can be applied
A huge private round is a bet on the growth curve, not proof of it; each raise at a higher valuation postpones monetization, so the real question is whether the audience justifies the price.
Aftermath
As of 2015-03-16 Pinterest had raised $367M of a planned $578M Series G at an $11B valuation, with the company saying the funds would fuel international expansion and TechCrunch noting total funding since the 2009 launch would pass $1B once the round closed. The filing was hours old and the material records no later milestones, so the entry stops at the announcement.
Sources
- Pinterest Raises $367 Million, Pushing It Past $1 Billion Mark
- Pinterest Raises $367M at $11B valuation
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