Pinterest seeks funding at $2 bn valuation: report

Online picture-sharing site Pinterest is trying to raise a new round of funding that would give it a valuation of $2 billion to $2.5 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. The company declined to comment on any fundraising efforts. The talks are fluid with no investment finalized, the Journal said in its report. Pinterest, which allows users to create online bulletin boards based on various themes such as travel, decorating, or sports, is part of a group of Internet companies that offer twists on Internet networking among various groups. They typically have little discernable profit or revenue, but have landed some outsized investments from venture capitalists. [caption id=“attachment_615492” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A screengrab of Pinterest. AP[/caption] They include private social-network Path, which raised $30 million at a valuation of $250 million last year; question-and-answer site Quora, which raised $50 million at a $400 million valuation last year; and microblogging service Twitter, which raised $400 million in new funding and another $400 million to buy out existing investors at an $8 billion valuation in 2011. Since Facebook Inc’s May initial public offering, which saw the stock fall far below its offer price before rebounding in recent months, many investors have cooled on consumer-focused Internet companies. But Pinterest’s rapid growth since its 2010 launch may make it an exception. It now has 28 million users, according to consultancy comScore. The start-up last raised money in May 2012 at a $1.5 billion valuation in a round led by Japanese e-commerce site Rakuten Inc. Its venture backers include Bessemer Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, and FirstMark Capital. Reuters