BeachMint Closes $35 Million Round From Accel Partners, Goldman Sachs, New World Ventures, Millenium Technology Value Partners and Existing Investors

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- BeachMint announced today that it has raised $35 million in financing from leading venture capital firm, Accel Partners, Goldman Sachs, New World Ventures, Millenium Technology Value Partners, and NALA. Existing investors participating in the round include NEA, Trinity Ventures and Scale Ventures.

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This new funding round, which brings BeachMint's total financing to over $75 million, will be used to further BeachMint's global expansion, to bolster its existing brands, and to launch several new brands planned for 2012.

Former eHarmony CEO Greg Waldorf commented, "BeachMint is a transformational ecommerce company, breaking through the online shopping experience with an innovative technology platform, unique Facebook integration and an incredible team to execute on the vision." Waldorf, currently CEO-in-Residence at Accel, will join BeachMint's Board of Directors.

CEO Josh Berman commented, "It's an amazing time to be a leading social commerce company. With these partners and funding, we'll continue to evolve our technology and expand our brands in order to offer our unique shopping experience in more markets globally and to build out our existing brands." "It's clear from our continued traction that BeachMint is at the forefront of a changing paradigm in ecommerce," added BeachMint President, Diego Berdakin.

Launched in late 2010, BeachMint now boasts four member-only sites; JewelMint.com with actress and fashion icon Kate Bosworth and celebrity stylist Cher Coulter, StyleMint.com with designers Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen, BeautyMint.com with Jessica Simpson and celebrity aesthetician Nerida Joy, and ShoeMint.com with style icon Rachel Bilson and stylist Nicole Chavez, in collaboration with shoemaker Steve Madden. BeachMint plans to announce two more celebrity partners in the coming months.

Accel's Sameer Gandhi noted, "We've watched BeachMint's incredible growth over the past year and believe the company is uniquely positioned to continue innovating and evolving the customer experience online. From the exclusive consumer products and shopping sites, to the innovative marketing, content and social media, BeachMint has elevated the space of celebrity curation in order to deliver unparalleled value to customers."

Prior to this funding, BeachMint has raised previous financing rounds led by NEA, Trinity Ventures and Scale Ventures, with participation from Anthem Ventures and Lightbank.

About BeachMint:
BeachMint is a venture backed social commerce company for designer-curated direct to consumer sites, founded by serial tech entrepreneurs, Josh Berman (Co-Founder MySpace) and Diego Berdakin. BeachMint launched their first brand, JewelMint.com, with Kate Bosworth and celebrity stylist, Cher Coulter, in October 2010, StyleMint.com with Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen in July 2011, BeautyMint.com with Jessica Simpson and celebrity skincare expert, Nerida Joy, in October 2011, and ShoeMint.com with Rachel Bilson and celebrity stylist, Nicole Chavez, in November 2011.

About Accel Partners:
Founded in 1983, Accel Partners has a long history of partnering with outstanding entrepreneurs and management teams to build world-class businesses. Accel today invests globally using dedicated teams and market-specific strategies for local geographies, with offices in Palo Alto, California, New York City, London and Bangalore, as well as in China via its partnership with IDG-Accel. Accel has helped entrepreneurs build over 300 successful companies, many of which have defined their categories, including: 99designs, Actuate, AdMob, Agile Software, Alfresco, Angry Birds (Rovio), Atlassian, BBN, Bonobos, Braintree, Brightcove, Cloudera, ComScore, Diapers.com (Quidsi), Dropbox, Etsy, Exclusively.in, Facebook, Flipkart, Fusion-IO, Gameforge, GlamMedia, Groupon, Imperva, Infinera, Interwoven, IronPlanet, JBoss, Kayak, Lookout, Macromedia, metroPCS, MoPub, Myntra, OPOWER, Polycom/PictureTel, Playfish, Portal Software, QlikTech, Rapt, Real Networks, Redback, Responsys, Riverbed, Spotify, Squarespace, SunRun, Trulia, UUNet, Veritas, Walmart.com, Webroot, Wonga, XenSource and Zimbra. For more information, please visit the Accel Partners web site at www.accel.com find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/accel.

About the BeachMint Brands

About StyleMint:
StyleMint is an exclusive T shirt and apparel line designed by Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen in partnership with BeachMint. StyleMint offers quality on-trend designs, perfect fit and effortless style. Members receive personalized selections from each collection matched to their Style Profile along with videos and style tips, showing customers the versatility of each design.

About BeautyMint:
BeautyMint is a personalized skin care system created by Jessica Simpson and celebrity aesthetician Nerida Joy, in partnership with BeachMint.

About JewelMint:
JewelMint is an exclusive jewelry line designed by fashion icon, Kate Bosworth, and celebrity stylist, Cher Coulter, in partnership with BeachMint. JewelMint's monthly collections offer unique jewelry designs personalized to match each member's style. Each member receives style tips, trend reports and videos to show how to wear and pair pieces.

About ShoeMint:
ShoeMint is an exclusive shoe collection designed by style icon, Rachel Bilson, and celebrity stylist, Nicole Chavez, in partnership with America's iconic shoe maker, Steve Madden, and BeachMint. ShoeMint's monthly collections offer a range of classic to fashion forward styles matched to your personal style.

SOURCE BeachMint