Rakuten Becomes Majority Shareholder In The Grommet

The Grommet, an online marketplace and product discovery and curation platform, has received another round of funding from Rakuten, an international online marketplace. This investment makes Rakuten a majority stakeholder, according to a company press release. The company first invested in The Grommet in August 2012 via a round of Series B funding.

On The Grommet web site, consumers can discover, launch and share innovative products from up-and-coming companies. Since its inception in 2009, The Grommet has uploaded more than 1,600 products on behalf of small companies and individual sellers. Due to buzz generated from this “Citizen Commerce” model, The Grommet is expected to increase revenue by 400% this year.

As part of ongoing growth plans, The Grommet has rolled out a new web experience that includes new features and capabilities to make shopping more fun and engaging. New capabilities include: easier browsing processes via larger, more attractive displays; customer reviews; personal value icons for customers to align their beliefs with their purchases; improved mobile capabilities; and an updated Citizens’ Gallery to encourage more seamless exploring and discovering.

“After fostering product launches and success across 20 consumer product categories and using cutting edge online media and storytelling for four years, The Grommet has established an eye for what’s relevant and innovative to consumers today,” said Joanne Domeniconi, Co-Founder and Chief Discovery Officer of The Grommet. She went on to call Rakuten “a perfect match, as we share a common vision for how people want to discover and buy products they love.”