Pinterest Raises $367 Million In Latest Round Of Financing

Pinterest's valuation has increased to $11 billion after it has raised $367 million in its latest round of funding. With that valuation, the social media site is now one of the most valuable venture capital-back startup companies today.

The creators of the phenomenally popular social networking website confirmed the financing in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A spokesperson for Pinterest further explained that the company is targeting to raise another $211 million, aiming to hit a total of $578 million in the Series G round.

In May of last year, Pinterest managed to close a $200 million round of financing. During that time, the company's total valuation was at $5 billion, which made it the sixth most valuable venture-backed startup firm. This may be evidence that investors are fully confident in Pinterest's potential to not only be a website where users can pin images, but also as a venue for discovering, advertising, and even selling a wide range of products and services.

Pinterest's number of users has already reached 70 million. It is a good bet that its number of users and visitors will continue to grow as more and more people get addicted to discovering and sharing not only pictures and artworks, but also products, recipes, tutorials, news, and even videos. And it certainly does not hurt that Pinterest's system allows for easy browsing -- pinned articles are displayed with headline and text descriptions, recipes come with easy to read ingredients and instructions, while products have information regarding pricing and availability.

Pinterest has even began to specialize. For instance, the company announced last month that it was launching a specific service that will help users search more easily for the right mobile apps for their iPhones and iPads. What is cool about it is that users can directly download the apps they like directly from the Pinterest app without having to go to the App Store.

As more and more investors begin to see Pinterest's uses for business, the social media site will surely attract more funding. By latest count, it has already amassed a total of $764 million. As explained by a spokesperson for the company, some of the money raised has already been set aside for international expansion. Pinterest has been attracting a growing number of international users. As a matter of fact, the number of international Pinterest users increase by over 135 percent in 2014. International users now make up over 40 percent of the entire Pinterest user base. Back in 2013, that share is only at 28 percent.