RewardStyle Just Got $15 Million In Funding

Ever wonder how fashion bloggers make money and afford that Chanel bag that would literally crush your bank account to pieces? The answer is RewardStyle, and they just raised $15 million in funding. Using this new moolah, the company plans to expand its global reach.

The backer? Maverick Capital Ventures, who led a funding round, which had Russian entrepreneurs Miroslava Duma and Nasiba Adilova and investor Veronica Chou participate, according to WWD. This new backing will give the company approximately a $290 million value, according to Venz Box, RewardStyle's co-founder and president. Not too shabby, rewardStyle, not too shabby.

RewardStyle began in 2011, when they saw potential in bloggers to build personal businesses "through the affiliate model online," according to WWD. Right now, 9,000 people and 4,000 retailers use the platform. How it works is this: they kickstart e-commerce sales and reward the users that help make the purchase happen. Of course, RewardStyle makes their money by taking some of the profit that the sales make.

According to Box, he'd like to work with more luxury retailers, giving buyers more access to luxury goods. Already, though, RewardStyle works with Chanel, Gucci, Burberry, Alexander Wang, DVF, Rag & Bone, and more.

Ever notice the "Like to Know It" captions on Instagram? RewardStyle is responsible for that. The feature basically connects the social media with commerce by sending an email directly to the user with links of the products by simply "liking" the photo.

Pretty snazzy, and extremely useful. Based on that feature alone, I can say with confidence that their new expansion will only advance e-commerce and publishing to new heights, and I can't wait to see what they have in the works.

Images: @fashionista_com