Congratulations, Pinterest. Welcome to The $1 Billion Club.
After your $100 million round of financing closed Thursday, the total value of your shares soared to about $1.5 billion, vaulting you into an exclusive club of venture-backed companies that have reached or exceeded the $1 billion valuation mark. (I think this may entitle you to some sort of Billionaire Boys Club sweater vest or something.)
But don’t get too full of yourself.
Sure, Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten, the lead investor in your latest cash infusion, valued you at 1.5 times what Facebook paid for your cousin Instagram. But let’s be real here. These are heady times. The Club is losing its exclusivity. Membership has nearly doubled this past year.
At least 20 private firms now call themselves $1 Billion Club members, according to an analyst from the business and financial research firm PrivCo. It feels like they’re letting anyone in these days.
Don't get me wrong, Pinterest. You're definitely special. After all, you did recently cross 20 million users, up from 1 million in July 2011, with only about 35 employees. But to keep you grounded in these bubbly times, here are nine other tech startups that recently entered The $1 Billion Club.
All slideshow statistics brought to you by PrivCo.
12 Most Valuable Startups
Realtime ($1 Billion)(01 of12)
Funding Date: 8/8/2012Funding Round: $100 millionValuation: $1 BillionKey Investors: BRZtech (which is funded by many individual investors and The Ongoing Group)Realtime founder and CEO André Parreira. (credit:Twitter/@andretparreira)
Spotify ($1 Billion)(02 of12)
Funding Date: 6/17/11Funding Round: $100 millionValuation: $1 billionKey Investors: Digital Sky Technologies, Accel Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & ByersCurrent Rumored Valuation: $4 billionSpotify Founder and CEO Daniel Ek (far left) attends Spotify Knocks It Out Of The Park at Stephen Weiss Studio on November 30, 2011, in New York City. (credit:Getty)
Gilt Groupe ($1 Billion)(03 of12)
Funding Date: 5/10/11Funding Round: $138 millionValuation: $1 billionKey Investors: Goldman Sachs and Softbank GroupGilt Groupe Chairman Susan Lyne at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in 2011. (credit:<a href="http://www.flickr.com/" role="link" class=" js-entry-link cet-external-link" data-vars-item-name="Flickr:" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-unit-name="60d58b99e4b057eb92f06533" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" data-vars-target-content-id="http://www.flickr.com/" data-vars-target-content-type="url" data-vars-type="web_external_link" data-vars-subunit-name="before_you_go_slideshow" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-position-in-subunit="12" data-vars-position-in-unit="21">Flickr:</a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/fortunelivemedia/" role="link" class=" js-entry-link cet-external-link" data-vars-item-name=" Fortune Live Media" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-unit-name="60d58b99e4b057eb92f06533" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" data-vars-target-content-id="http://www.flickr.com/people/fortunelivemedia/" data-vars-target-content-type="url" data-vars-type="web_external_link" data-vars-subunit-name="before_you_go_slideshow" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-position-in-subunit="13" data-vars-position-in-unit="22"> Fortune Live Media</a>)
Evernote ($1 Billion)(04 of12)
Funding Date: 5/3/12Funding Round: $70 millionValuation: $1 billionKey Investors: Meritech Capital, CBC Capital, T. Rowe Price, Harbor Pacific Capital, and Allen & Company (credit:<a href="http://www.flickr.com/" role="link" class=" js-entry-link cet-external-link" data-vars-item-name="Flickr:" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-unit-name="60d58b99e4b057eb92f06533" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" data-vars-target-content-id="http://www.flickr.com/" data-vars-target-content-type="url" data-vars-type="web_external_link" data-vars-subunit-name="before_you_go_slideshow" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-position-in-subunit="10" data-vars-position-in-unit="19">Flickr:</a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/brooksduncan/" role="link" class=" js-entry-link cet-external-link" data-vars-item-name=" AhBook" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-unit-name="60d58b99e4b057eb92f06533" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" data-vars-target-content-id="http://www.flickr.com/people/brooksduncan/" data-vars-target-content-type="url" data-vars-type="web_external_link" data-vars-subunit-name="before_you_go_slideshow" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-position-in-subunit="11" data-vars-position-in-unit="20"> AhBook</a>)
Box ($1.2 Billion) (05 of12)
Funding Date: July, 2012Funding Round: $125 million Valuation: $1.2 BillionKey Investors: General Atlantic, US Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture PartnersBox CEO and co-founder Aaron Levie speaks at the Enterprise 2.0 Conference in Santa Clara, CA. (credit:<a href="http://www.flickr.com/" role="link" class=" js-entry-link cet-external-link" data-vars-item-name="Flickr:" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-unit-name="60d58b99e4b057eb92f06533" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" data-vars-target-content-id="http://www.flickr.com/" data-vars-target-content-type="url" data-vars-type="web_external_link" data-vars-subunit-name="before_you_go_slideshow" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-position-in-subunit="8" data-vars-position-in-unit="17">Flickr:</a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/e2conf/" role="link" class=" js-entry-link cet-external-link" data-vars-item-name=" Enterprise 2.0 Conference" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-unit-name="60d58b99e4b057eb92f06533" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" data-vars-target-content-id="http://www.flickr.com/people/e2conf/" data-vars-target-content-type="url" data-vars-type="web_external_link" data-vars-subunit-name="before_you_go_slideshow" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-position-in-subunit="9" data-vars-position-in-unit="18"> Enterprise 2.0 Conference</a>)
Airbnb, Inc. ($1.3 Billion)(06 of12)
Funding Date: 7/25/11 Funding Round: $112 million Valuation: $1.3 billion Key Investors: Digital Sky Technologies, Andreesen Horowitz, General Catalyst Partners, Jeff Bezos (Founder and CEO of Amazon) Current Rumored Valuation: $3-4 billion (credit:<a href="http://www.flickr.com/" role="link" class=" js-entry-link cet-external-link" data-vars-item-name="Flickr:" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-unit-name="60d58b99e4b057eb92f06533" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" data-vars-target-content-id="http://www.flickr.com/" data-vars-target-content-type="url" data-vars-type="web_external_link" data-vars-subunit-name="before_you_go_slideshow" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-position-in-subunit="6" data-vars-position-in-unit="15">Flickr:</a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/ernohannink/" role="link" class=" js-entry-link cet-external-link" data-vars-item-name=" ernohannink" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-unit-name="60d58b99e4b057eb92f06533" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" data-vars-target-content-id="http://www.flickr.com/people/ernohannink/" data-vars-target-content-type="url" data-vars-type="web_external_link" data-vars-subunit-name="before_you_go_slideshow" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-position-in-subunit="7" data-vars-position-in-unit="16"> ernohannink</a>)
Fanatics ($1.5 Billion)(07 of12)
Funding Date: June, 2012Funding Round: $150 millionValuation: $1.5 BillionKey Investors: Insight Venture Partners, Andreessen HorowitzFanatics CEO Michael Rubin.
Workday ($2 Billion)(08 of12)
Funding Date: 10/24/11Funding Round: $85 millionValuation: $2 billionKey Investors: T. Rowe Price, Morgan Stanley, Janus Capital, and Bezos Expeditions (credit:YouTube)
Palantir Technology ($2.5 Billion)(09 of12)
Funding Date: 9/7/11Funding Round: $68 millionValuation: $2.5 billionKey Investors: SAC Capital and Tiger Global ManagementCurrent Rumored Valuation: $4+ billion (credit:<a href="http://www.flickr.com/" role="link" class=" js-entry-link cet-external-link" data-vars-item-name="Flickr:" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-unit-name="60d58b99e4b057eb92f06533" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" data-vars-target-content-id="http://www.flickr.com/" data-vars-target-content-type="url" data-vars-type="web_external_link" data-vars-subunit-name="before_you_go_slideshow" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-position-in-subunit="4" data-vars-position-in-unit="13">Flickr:</a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/techcrunch/" role="link" class=" js-entry-link cet-external-link" data-vars-item-name=" TechCrunch" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-unit-name="60d58b99e4b057eb92f06533" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" data-vars-target-content-id="http://www.flickr.com/people/techcrunch/" data-vars-target-content-type="url" data-vars-type="web_external_link" data-vars-subunit-name="before_you_go_slideshow" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-position-in-subunit="5" data-vars-position-in-unit="14"> TechCrunch</a>)
Square ($3.225 Billion)(10 of12)
Funding Date: August 7th, 2012Funding Round: $225 millionValuation: $3.225 BillionKey Investors: Rizvi Traverse, Starbucks, Sequoia Capital, KPCB, Tiger Global Management Square Founder Jack Dorsey speaks at the Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards April 27, 2012, in New York City. (credit:Getty)
Dropbox ($4 Billion)(11 of12)
Funding Date: 10/18/11Funding Round: $250 millionValuation: $4 billionKey Investors: Index Ventures, Benchmark Capital, Goldman Sachs, Greylock Partners, Institutional Venture Partners, RIT Capital Partners, Valiant Capital Partners, Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, and Hadi & Ali Partovi (credit:<a href="http://www.flickr.com/" role="link" class=" js-entry-link cet-external-link" data-vars-item-name="Flickr:" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-unit-name="60d58b99e4b057eb92f06533" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" data-vars-target-content-id="http://www.flickr.com/" data-vars-target-content-type="url" data-vars-type="web_external_link" data-vars-subunit-name="before_you_go_slideshow" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-position-in-subunit="2" data-vars-position-in-unit="11">Flickr:</a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/pengdo/" role="link" class=" js-entry-link cet-external-link" data-vars-item-name=" Pengdo-oing" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-unit-name="60d58b99e4b057eb92f06533" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" data-vars-target-content-id="http://www.flickr.com/people/pengdo/" data-vars-target-content-type="url" data-vars-type="web_external_link" data-vars-subunit-name="before_you_go_slideshow" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-position-in-subunit="3" data-vars-position-in-unit="12"> Pengdo-oing</a>)
Twitter ($8 Billion)(12 of12)
Funding Date: 9/8/11Funding Round: $800 millionValuation: $8 billionKey Investors: Digital Sky Technologies (credit:<a href="http://www.flickr.com/" role="link" class=" js-entry-link cet-external-link" data-vars-item-name="Flickr:" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-unit-name="60d58b99e4b057eb92f06533" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" data-vars-target-content-id="http://www.flickr.com/" data-vars-target-content-type="url" data-vars-type="web_external_link" data-vars-subunit-name="before_you_go_slideshow" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-position-in-subunit="0" data-vars-position-in-unit="9">Flickr:</a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/thecampbells/" role="link" class=" js-entry-link cet-external-link" data-vars-item-name=" shawncampbell" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-unit-name="60d58b99e4b057eb92f06533" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" data-vars-target-content-id="http://www.flickr.com/people/thecampbells/" data-vars-target-content-type="url" data-vars-type="web_external_link" data-vars-subunit-name="before_you_go_slideshow" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-position-in-subunit="1" data-vars-position-in-unit="10"> shawncampbell</a>)
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