New York startup Fancy, an online catalog and high-end Pinterest competitor, today announced that it’s hit 1 million users, presently sees an average of $50,000 worth of commerce move through its platform weekly, and has updated its iOS app.
Fancy also reports that its present user base consists of roughly 55% male and 45% female members, in contrast with Pinterest, which has a higher ratio of female users. The platform currently boasts roughly 2,000 merchants, up from about 400 at its inception.
Launched back in February, Fancy, where users can go an “fancy” things they like, is endorsed by PPR, the French conglomerate that owns fashion brands such as Gucci and Bottega Veneta. Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey and original Facebooker Chris Hughes are the board of directors, and other backers include Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, Allen & Co., General Catalyst, Esther Dyson, Celtics owner Jim Pallotta, MTV creator Bob Pittman, former eBay COO Maynard Webb, Eric Eisner, Jeff Samberg, and Ashton Kutcher.
Fancy still exudes an air of exclusivity, with a tight-knit community of curators posting top-notch content, which users can now buy and sell in real time. Merchants can tie sales directly to an image of their product, or link them to more popular, trending images of a similar product or service. A more Google-like bidding system is also being developed.