Pinterest is buying The Sure, the AI-powered e-commerce platform co-founded by Sew Repair alum Julie Bornstein, the corporate introduced on Thursday.
The Sure formally launched as an app in Might 2020 with Bornstein (who labored at Nordstrom, City Outfitters and Sephora earlier than becoming a member of Sew Repair as Chief Working Officer) as CEO and trend trade veteran Taylor Tomasi Hill as inventive and trend director, following 18 months of growth and having raised $30 million in funding from a gaggle of traders that included Forerunner Ventures, New Enterprise Associates and True Ventures, per Tech Crunch. (In a January 2022 interview with Shiny’s Jill Manoff, Bornstein stated the corporate had raised $40 million in complete.) Its massive draw was the curated procuring expertise tailor-made to every buyer’s type and model preferences by its algorithm.
“In the end what we have constructed is type of a next-generation procuring platform the place we’ve got a really giant model assortment,” Borstein instructed Harvard Enterprise Faculty senior lecturer Jill Avery in a latest episode of the Chilly Name podcast. “Our aim is to have the most important of branded trend… and for the buyer to have the ability to are available and reply some fast and pretty simple however high-signal questions that assist us perceive her. Your entire platform and procuring expertise adapts to every consumer, so each buyer is procuring a retailer constructed round them.”
Since its debut, The Sure has grown its roster of designers to cowl every thing from luxurious to mass market, from Prada and Bottega Veneta to Khaite and Altuzarra to Madewell and Staud. It launched an internet site in July 2021. Earlier this yr, it began a loyalty program.
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The phrases of the deal — which is anticipated to shut within the second quarter of 2022 — weren’t disclosed. As soon as its achieved, Borstein will report back to Ben Silbermann, the co-founder and CEO of Pinterest, and “lead procuring imaginative and prescient and technique throughout Pinterest, creating a brand new and strategic group devoted to Pinterest’s taste-driven procuring efforts that can assist steer the evolution of options for Pinners and retailers on Pinterest,” in keeping with a press launch. The remainder of The Sure’ workforce will be a part of Pinterest, too, and that the corporate will shut down the app.
“I’ve spent my profession on the intersection of procuring, trend and expertise and have seen first-hand the dear influence of constructing expertise that permits manufacturers to hitch a platform with ease whereas enabling clients to share their preferences,” Borstein stated, in a press release. “Becoming a member of forces with Pinterest to broaden our attain using such an inspirational platform is an thrilling and ideally suited subsequent step for our workforce and expertise.”
Pinterest’s Silbermann added: “The Sure workforce are consultants in constructing an end-to-end procuring expertise. They share our imaginative and prescient of constructing it easy to search out the appropriate merchandise which might be personalised for you based mostly in your style and magnificence. We’re very enthusiastic about The Sure’ gifted workforce and expertise as we construct devoted procuring experiences on Pinterest.”
That is the second little bit of retail acquisition information to drop this week: On Wednesday, Dia & Co. introduced it was shopping for plus-size luxurious e-tailer 11 Honoré.
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