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eCommerce - Thursday, July 2, 2009

Shopping Site Gilt Group Raises $40M at $400M Val

NYC's private shopping firm Gilt Groupe has raised $40M from General Atlantic and Matrix Partners at a $400M valuation.

Gilt Groupe provides access, by invitation only, to men’s, women’s and children’s fashion and luxury brands at discount prices. Each sale lasts 36 hours and features products from a single designer. Guilt is also set to launch a travel offering.

Founded just two years ago, Gilt Group told Henry Blodget that it saw $25M in revenue last year and expects to do about $150M in revenue this year and plans on more than $500M next year. (We note that Blodget is taking some heat because his backer is also Gilt Groupe's Chairman and Blodget defends attacks that he is a shill.)

Gilt is on a hiring explosion, bringing on 200 employees including 20 in Japan and it plans to hire another 100 employees over the next six months. The company has been able to lure some top talent too, including former Kayak Marketing VP Drew Patterson to run its travel biz.