Pinterest Worth $3.8 Billion: Social Network Raises $225 Million

Pinterest secured $225 million in funding and with it a whopping new worth of $3.8 billion dollars. The New York Times reports that new round of financing led by Fidelity and supported by existing backers Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, FirstMark Capital and Valiant Capital Partners led to the extraordinary jump in the company's value. Pinterest's pinboards have become popular destinations for soical media users who are able to create and manage theme-based images, creating scrap-books based around events, interests, hobbies, and collections. This in turn has attracted brands to harness the merchandising power of the social site: Pinterest announced last month it would start promoting pins.

Pinterest has become one of the fastest growing social networks in recent years. Just two years ago, the company was valued at $200 million. USA Today reports that the company plans to use the funding to upgrade its service on mobile networks. There are also plans for international expansion: the company has already launched in the UK, France and Italy and plans to expand in seven more countries by the end of the year. Pinterest's co-founder and chief executive, Ben Silbermann, said in a statement: "We hope to be a service that everyone uses to inspire their future, whether that's dinner tomorrow night, a vacation next summer, or a dream house someday. This new investment enables us to pursue that goal even more aggressively."