Thursday, April 18, 2013

Hollywood Insiders Back Social Shopping Site The Hunt

In a turn from the usual formula of Silicon Valley investors backing a Hollywood, celebrity-driven startup, a Silicon Valley startup has scored the backing of a group of Hollywood insiders. San Francisco-based The Hunt said this week that it has raised a seed funding round worth $2.7M, from such Hollywood insiders as Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary's AGR-ade Investments, Rohan Oza (Vitamin Water, Pop Chips), RedOne (producer for Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez), Keli Lee (EVP of Casting for ABC Entertainment Group), Anjula Acharia-Bath (CEO of Desi Hits) and Michael Banks (media investor).

The Hunt says it is developing a community-driven, online shopping site, focused on making social media photos "shoppable". The site--reminiscent of Pinterst--helps users find products features from other social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr. The site says it has over one million monthly unique visitors using the site to find and buy products. The Hunt said the new funding will go towards its engineering team, for marketing, and for runway for continued growth.

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