Pinterest is a new social media star after Facebook and Twitter. Pinterest the another social media site that is reportedly planning to go public. Pinterest allows people to post their favorite photos and share them with their followers. Investors in Pinterest Inc. are doubling down on the image-bookmarking site with a new round of funding at a rich valuation. Pinterest is in talks to raise $500 million in a round of funding expected to value the five-year-old company at around $11 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. It is unclear whether any new investors will join the round, which is expected to close in the coming weeks.
Unlike Twitter, Pinterest has been able to develop its ad platform. It is a big year for Pinterest: now that it’s fully launched its ad format, it’s making a big push to get advertisers to embrace its “Promoted Pins.” At the Code/Media conference Joanne Bradford, head of partnerships for Pinterest, sat down to talk about her strategy to build the company’s nascent business model. Her key selling point for Pinterest ads: Brands have achieved 30 percent free impressions – or what’s called “earned media,” and another 5 percent more in the month following the end of the campaign.
Last year Alibaba made history by becoming the biggest IPO that raised $28 billion. Pinterest is only planning to raise $500 right now. But with a solid ad platform, we can expect Pinterest stock to be one of the favorite social media stocks.