A shining star in the local startup scene, Curalate has impressed again with a huge funding round. Philly.com's
PhillyDeals blog has the scoop.
Curalate, the "visual commerce" software maker that helps Urban Outfitters and Forever21 sell clothes via partners Instagram, Pinterest and other social media, has raised $27.5 million from its past investors New Enterprise Associates (the largest U.S. venture capital outfit), Josh Kopelman's Philadelphia-based FirstRound Capital (biggest VC based on the East Coast), and MentorTech Ventures (a Phila-based group, includes Pa. state venture capital, which backs firms run by Penn people like Curalate CEO Apu Gupta, a Wharton MBA). "They believe," Gupta told me...
Gupta says the latest cash infusion, which follows $12.5 million in fundraising since 2012, will pay to double Curalate's staff -- currently 115 at its Center City HQ, New York and Seattle offices -- to 230 by year's end. "We're trying to disrupt a $1.6 trillion (ecommerce) market. It's gonna take some money," Gupta told me. "There's a lot of hiring to be done."
"Curalate is transforming ecommerce," NEA general partner Harry Weller said in a statement. He called it "one of those rare companies," combining: a "disruptive vision" for ecommerce, also capable of building rugged software that speeds consumers to buy stuff.
Original source: Philly.com
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